Age, marital status and changes in dietary habits in later life

A 21-year follow-up among Finnish women

Bibliographic Data

ID15095461
AuthorsIRJA HAAPALA (0000-0001-5624-3018, University of Eastern Finland, corresponding author), Ritva Prättälä (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), Kristiina Patja (0000-0002-8353-1055, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), Reija Männikkö (0000-0002-1448-1971, University of Eastern Finland), Maija Hassinen (University of Eastern Finland), Pirjo Komulainen (University of Eastern Finland), Rainer Rauramaa (University of Eastern Finland)
Year2012
Volume15
Issue7
Pages1174-1181
Publication date2012-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePublic Health Nutrition (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1368-9800 • E-ISSN: 1475-2727
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1368980012000602
PMID22469058
OpenAlexW1978361022
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited34

Objective To examine 21-year longitudinal changes in dietary habits and their associations with age and marital status among women aged 50–60 years at baseline. Design Prospective, longitudinal study of a cohort in the FINMONICA population-based risk factor survey with clinical assessments in 1982, 1992 and 2003. Dietary habits were assessed via self-reported consumption of foods typically contributing to SFA, cholesterol and sugar intakes in the Finnish diet. A dietary risk score based upon five items was used. Setting Kuopio region, Finland. Subjects Complete data from all three assessments for 103 women of the original cohort of 299 were included for two age groups: 50–54 and 55–60 years at baseline. Results Dietary habits improved between 1982 and 1992 and showed continued but less pronounced improvement between 1992 and 2003: within the younger age group, 78 % of the women reduced the number of dietary risk points from the 1982 to 2003 scores, whereas 3 % increased them and 19 % reported no change. In the older age group these percentages were 61 %, 23 % and 16 %, respectively. Women who remained married showed a steadier decline in dietary risk points than single women or women who were widows at the beginning of the follow-up. Conclusions Older women make positive changes to their dietary habits but the consistency of these changes may be affected by the ageing process, marital status and changes in the latter

Environmental health · Marital status · Population · Sociology · Demography · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine · Nutritional Studies and Diet · Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet · Psychology · Gerontology

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