Motivational factors as mediators of socioeconomic variations in dietary intake patterns

Dietary intake of fat and fibre has a major influence on disease risk, and fibre consumption is inversely associated with socioeconomic status. The role of motives for food choice in mediating socio-economic variations in dietary intake was assessed in a postal survey of adults for the general population. The sample of 374 women and 290 men were divided on the basis of educational qualifications into high and low socio-economic status groups. Education attainment groups differed in income and occupation, with higher incomes and a greater proportion of employed people in the high education group. As expected, education groups did not differ in fat intake assessed using a standardised measure (the Dietary instrument for Nutrition Education), but the high education group ate more fibre, fruit, vegetables and cereals than the low education group. Analysis of the Food Choice Questionnaire, a multidimensional measure of motives for food choice, showed differences by educational status in the importance of price, familiarity, mood control and sensory appeal in food selection. Differences in fibre intake associated with educational status became nonsignificant in multivariate analysis (adjusting for sex, age and body mass index), once motivational factors had been taken into account. The results suggest that psychological factors related to motives and attitudes to food choice play a substantial role in determining differences in dietary intake with socioeconomic status. Psychological factors may be more amenable to change than other factors that contribute to the differences in dietary intake across social classes.