Sociodemographic inequalities in eating practices and concerns.

Objective: To evaluate associations between selected dietary concerns and eating practices and determine the association of these concerns/practices with demographic and socio-economic characteristics in a population from a large Brazilian city.

Design: Population-based cross-sectional study. We investigated concerns regarding salt intake, the use of highly processed seasoning and the custom of reading the Na content on food labels. We also analysed concerns regarding the use of pesticides on food products and the practice of consuming organic foods. These variables were analysed according to sex, age group, schooling and income. Multivariate Poisson regression analysis was performed for the estimation of prevalence ratios.

Setting: Campinas, state of São Paulo, Brazil.

Participants: The representative sample consisted of 1710 adults and seniors.

Results: A total 62·3 % of the population were concerned with salt intake, 34·7 % did not use highly processed seasoning and 10·6 % checked the Na content on food labels; 27·5 % were concerned with pesticides and 26·5 % consumed organic foods. The practices analysed were associated with the respective concerns. Women and seniors had a better profile, except for reading Na content in both groups and the consumption of organic foods among seniors. The frequency of checking the Na content and consuming organic foods increased with the level of schooling. The higher income group had a better profile, except for concern with salt intake.

Conclusions: Considerable social differences were found regarding the dietary practices, and the practices were associated with concerns. The present findings underscore the need for different dietary counseling strategies targeting specific groups.