Associations of socioeconomic status indicators and migrant status with risk of a low vegetable and fruit consumption in children

Mirte Boelens; Hein Raat; Anne I Wijtzes; Gea M Schouten; Dafna A Windhorst; Wilma Jansen

doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101039

Associations of socioeconomic status indicators and migrant status with risk of a low vegetable and fruit consumption in children

SSM Popul Health. 2022 Feb 4:17:101039. doi: 10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101039. eCollection 2022 Mar.

Authors

Mirte Boelens¹, Hein Raat¹, Anne I Wijtzes¹, Gea M Schouten², Dafna A Windhorst¹, Wilma Jansen^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Public Health, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, PO Box 2040, 3000, CA, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
² Department of Research and Business Intelligence, Municipality of Rotterdam, PO Box 21323, 3001, AH, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
³ Department of Social Development, Municipality of Rotterdam, PO Box 70032, 3000, LP, Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Abstract

Background: It is important to provide insight in potential target groups for interventions to reduce socioeconomic inequalities in children's vegetable/fruit consumption. In earlier studies often single indicators of socioeconomic status (SES) or migrant status have been used. However, SES is a multidimensional concept and different indicators may measure different SES dimensions. Our objective is to explore multiple associations of SES indicators and migrant status with risk of a low vegetable/fruit consumption in a large multi-ethnic and socioeconomically diverse sample of children.

Methods: We included 5,010 parents of 4- to 12-year-olds from a Dutch public health survey administered in 2018. Cross-sectional associations of parental education, material deprivation, perceived financial difficulties, neighbourhood socioeconomic status (NSES) and migrant status with low (≤4 days a week) vegetable and fruit consumption in children were assessed using multilevel multivariable logistic regression models. Results are displayed as odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI).

Results: Of the 4- to 12-year-olds, 22.1% had a low vegetable consumption and 11.9% a low fruit consumption. Low (OR 2.51; 95%CI: 2.05, 3.07) and intermediate (OR 1.83; 95%CI: 1.54, 2.17) parental education, material deprivation (OR 1.45; 95%CI: 1.19, 1.76), low NSES (OR 1.28; 95%CI: 1.04, 1.58) and a non-Western migrant status (OR 1.94; 95%CI: 1.66, 2.26) were associated with a higher risk of a low vegetable consumption. Low (OR 1.68; 95%CI: 1.31, 2.17) and intermediate (OR 1.39; 95%CI: 1.12, 1.72) parental education and material deprivation (OR 1.63; 95%CI: 11.27, 2.08) were also associated with a higher risk of a low fruit consumption.

Conclusion: Our findings indicate associations of multiple SES indicators and migrant status with a higher risk of a low vegetable/fruit consumption in children and thus help to identify potential target groups.

Keywords: CI, Confidence interval; Child; Food consumption; Fruit; IQR, Interquartile range; MOR, Median odds ratio; NSES, Neighbourhood socioeconomic status; Netherlands; OR, Odds ratio; SES, Socioeconomic Status; Socioeconomic status; VIF, Variance inflation factor; Vegetables.