Associations between measures of socio-economic position and sustainable dietary patterns in the NutriNet-Santé study

Julia Baudry (1) , Benjamin Allès (1) , Brigitte Langevin (2) , Anouk Reuzé (1) , Joséphine Brunin (1, 3) , Mathilde Touvier (1) , Serge Hercberg (1, 4) , Denis Lairon (5) , Sandrine Péneau (1) , Philippe Pointereau (2) , Emmanuelle Kesse-Guyot (1)

1 EREN [CRESS - U1153 / UMR_A 1125] - Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team | Equipe de Recherche en Epidémiologie Nutritionnelle
2 Solagro - Association Solagro
3 ADEME - Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Energie
4 Hôpital Avicenne [AP-HP]
5 C2VN - Centre recherche en CardioVasculaire et Nutrition = Center for CardioVascular and Nutrition research

Abstract Objective: We aimed to explore the relationship between socio-economic characteristics and sustainable dietary patterns. Design: Dietary data were derived from a web-based FFQ. Diet sustainability was evaluated using a modified Sustainable Diet Index, comprising nutritional, environmental and cultural components (higher scores expressing higher sustainability). The socio-economic position markers were education, household income and occupation status. Multi-adjusted linear and Poisson regression models were used to assess the cross-sectional association of the markers of socio-economic status with a sustainable diet and sustainability subcomponents, respectively. Setting: France. Participants: 29 119 NutriNet-Santé participants. Results: Individuals with a more sustainable diet had slightly higher diet monetary cost, lower total energy intake and consumed less animal-based foods than their counterparts. Lower education level was associated with lower overall diet sustainability ( β primary v . postgraduate = -0·62, 95 % CI (-0·72, −0·51)) and nutrition, socio-cultural and environmental subscores. Manual workers and employees had a lower modified Sustainable Diet Index than intermediate professionals ( β manual workers v . intermediate professionals = -0·43, 95 % CI (−0·52, −0·33) and β employees v . intermediate professionals = -0·56, 95 % CI (−0·64, −0·48)). Participants with the lowest v . highest incomes had a higher environmental subscore but a lower socio-cultural subscore, whereas the results were less marked for occupational status. Conclusions: Overall, our results documented associations between socio-economic status and the level of diet sustainability, arguing for the implementation of appropriate food policies to promote sustainable diets at lower cost.

Mots clés: Diet sustainability; Socio-economic status; Diet quality; Environment sustainability; Observational study

Domaines: Alimentation et Nutrition

Julia Baudry, Benjamin Allès, Brigitte Langevin, Anouk Reuzé, Joséphine Brunin, et al.. Associations between measures of socio-economic position and sustainable dietary patterns in the NutriNet-Santé study. Public Health Nutrition, 2022, pp.PII S1368980022002208. ⟨10.1017/S1368980022002208⟩. ⟨hal-03875058⟩