Abstract
Objective: To investigate if a higher socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with a greater availability of fruit, vegetables and lower fat dairy foods, and a lesser availability of obesogenic foods and sweetened beverages in the homes of 50 year old Cantabrians.
Design: Cross-sectional pilot study using baseline data collected for the prospective longitudinal Canterbury Health, Ageing and Lifecourse (CHALICE) study. Participants were 50 years old (n=200) and living within the Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) catchment area. The relevant data collected included demographic, socioeconomic indicators (household income, standard of living, education), and household food availability measured by a validated home food inventory (HFI). Other information collected included household size and eating out behaviours. Participants were categorised into high and low groups for their SES and food group scores (total food, fruit and vegetables, fruit, vegetables, lower fat dairy products, obesogenic foods and sweetened beverages). A Pearson Chi-square test for independence, based on table of counts was used to explore the relationship between the two categorical variables. Confidence intervals and odds ratios were calculated.
Results: Having a higher household income, standard of living and more education was associated with having a greater availability of fruit and vegetables in the home (p<0.05). A higher household income and standard of living was also related to having a greater availability of total food and lower fat dairy products in the home (p<0.05). SES was not associated with obesogenic foods and/or sweetened beverages availability. Regardless of SES, participants tended not to eat out more than once a week. However, a higher household income and standard of living was related to eating out at restaurants/cafés (p<0.05).
Conclusions: Having a higher SES was associated with a greater availability of ‘healthy’ foods, but not a lower availability of ‘unhealthy’ foods and beverages in the homes of people 50 years old and living in the CDHB catchment area.