Disparities in food habits in Europe:: systematic review of educational and occupational differences in the intake of fat

Background A higher socio-economic level is associated with healthier dietary habits. Nevertheless, socio-economic differences in the intake of fat have not consistently been reported in Europe. The objective of our study was to systematically assess differences in total fat (TF) intake and saturated fat (SF) intake across social groups. Methods Representative samples from nine European countries were used to perform a meta-analysis of surveys between 1985-1999, including both published and nonpublished results. Results Because important heterogeneity was found and the estimates for TF from Spain and Estonia were different from all others, we calculated the differences in intake excluding these two countries. We found a lower TF intake in the highest (versus the lowest) occupational level both for men (difference: -1.1% of total energy intake; 95% CI: -1.3 to -0.8%) and women (difference: -0.9%; 95% CI: -1.2 to -0.6%) when Estonia and Spain were excluded. Conclusion European surveys indicate that people in the lowest category of occupation consume more fat and SF than people in the highest category.