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Is the co-occurrence of smoking and poor consumption of fruits and vegetables confounded by socioeconomic conditions?

  • Original Article
  • Published:
International Journal of Public Health

Abstract

Objectives

As smoking and unhealthy diet are more prevalent in lower socioeconomic groups, this study aims at exploring whether associations between smoking and fruit and vegetable consumption are confounded by socioeconomic conditions or if smoking is independently associated with consumption.

Methods

Cross-sectional analyses of 4,814 middle-aged participants from the Heinz Nixdorf recall study, a population-based cohort study in Germany. Fruit and vegetable consumption was assessed by a food frequency questionnaire. Education and income were used as indicators for socioeconomic groups. Logistic regression models were run to estimate odds ratios for consumption by smoking status.

Results

Smoking is associated with poor consumption of fruits and raw vegetables/salad in both genders, and with poor consumption of boiled vegetables and fruit/vegetable juice in men. Importantly, poor consumption is related to smoking independently of people’s socioeconomic conditions.

Conclusion

The findings imply that smokers in all socioeconomic groups are at higher risk for unhealthy intake of fruits and vegetables. Public health interventions targeted to smokers should include dietary instructions.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Heinz Nixdorf Foundation (Chairman Dr jur G. Schmidt, Essen, Germany) for sponsoring the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study and the German Research Council for supporting the additional assessment of psychosocial factors (DFG SI 236/8-1; 10-1). The authors are indebted to the investigative group and the study personnel of the Heinz Nixdorf Recall Study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Sociology, University of Duesseldorf, PO Box 101007, 40001, Duesseldorf, Germany

    Christine Muff, N. Dragano & J. Siegrist

  2. Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany

    K.-H. Jöckel & S. Moebus

  3. Clinic of Cardiology, West-German Heart Center Essen, University Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany

    S. Möhlenkamp & R. Erbel

  4. Division of Laboratory Research, Department of Endocrinology, University Clinic Essen, Essen, Germany

    K. Mann

Authors
  1. Christine Muff
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  2. N. Dragano
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  3. K.-H. Jöckel
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  4. S. Moebus
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  5. S. Möhlenkamp
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  6. R. Erbel
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  7. K. Mann
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  8. J. Siegrist
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Correspondence to Christine Muff.

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Muff, C., Dragano, N., Jöckel, KH. et al. Is the co-occurrence of smoking and poor consumption of fruits and vegetables confounded by socioeconomic conditions?. Int J Public Health 55, 339–346 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-010-0152-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-010-0152-5

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