Socio-economic Differences in Dietary Intakes: The Comprehensive Study on Household Food Consumption Patterns and Nutritional Status of I.R. Iran

An association between socioeconomic status (SES) and poor health has been recognized. Inequalities in nutrition have been associated with inequalities in health. This study aimed to identify the social variability in the food and nutrient intake of Iranian households. This study was conducted in the framework of the Comprehensive Study on Household Food Consumption Patterns and Nutritional Status of I.R. Iran during 2001-2003. Households were selected by cluster systematic sampling method in urban and rural areas. SES was assessed through in-depth interviews. Assessment of food and nutrient intake was done using three consecutive 24-hour diet recalls completed by trained nutritionists. Some of the socio-economic variables were extracted by factor analysis as indicators of SES. Among the 7158 studied households, 2496 (34.9%) were rural and 4662 (65.1%) were urban dwellers. Consumption of the food groups, including bread and cereals, vegetables, fruits, meats, eggs, milk and dairy products, sugar and sweets, was significantly different by the level of education, occupation (P<0.001) and living conditions (P<0.05). These factors explained 70% of variance in SES. In higher quintile of SES, consumption of bread and cereals, as well as sugar and sweets significantly decreased and meats, vegetables and fruits was increased. Intake of protein, calcium, vitamin C, riboflavin and retinol was higher in the third quintile of SES as compared to the first quintile (P<0.05). Based on our findings, an unhealthier dietary intake may exist among the households belonging to lower socio-economic level in Iran. This calls for appropriate policy making and intervention(s).