Abstract
Objective: To describe the food consumption patterns of Italian elderly subjects and the factors associated with different dietary habits. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Population-based study. Subjects: A total of 847 men and 1465 women aged 65 y or older, living in rural areas in the province of Pavia (Northern Italy) and near Cosenza (Southern Italy) in 1992-1993. Interventions: The dietary information was collected by means of a quantitative food-frequency questionnaire, with cluster analysis being used to segregate the subjects on the basis of similarities in their food consumption. A generalised logistic regression model including residence, age, living status, education, physical activity and degree of disability was fitted to assess the factors associated with different food consumption habits. Results: Six dietary clusters were selected for men and seven for women. The largest cluster for both genders was 'small eaters' (46% of men and 51% of women); 'big eaters', 'light diet' and 'alcohol' clusters were also identified for both genders. The men were also grouped into 'balanced diet' and 'cheese' clusters, and the women into 'sweet', 'greens' and 'butter' clusters. Conclusions: In addition to the influence of the area of residence - residents in Northern Italy consume greater amounts of animal fats, sugar and alcoholic beverages, and those living in Southern Italy have a greater intake of fruit, vegetables, fish and olive oil - all of the other studied variables predicted the probabilities of falling into a specific dietary cluster.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1514-1521 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | European Journal of Clinical Nutrition |
| Volume | 57 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2003 |
Fingerprint
Keywords
- Cluster analysis
- Elderly
- Food intake
- Nutrition
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine (miscellaneous)
- Food Science
Cite this
Dietary and nutritional patterns in an elderly rural population in Northern and Southern Italy : (I). A cluster analysis of food consumption. / Corrêa Leite, M. L.; Nicolosi, A.; Cristina, S.; Hauser, W. A.; Pugliese, P.; Nappi, G.
In: European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 57, No. 12, 12.2003, p. 1514-1521.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Dietary and nutritional patterns in an elderly rural population in Northern and Southern Italy
T2 - (I). A cluster analysis of food consumption
AU - Corrêa Leite, M. L.
AU - Nicolosi, A.
AU - Cristina, S.
AU - Hauser, W. A.
AU - Pugliese, P.
AU - Nappi, G.
PY - 2003/12
Y1 - 2003/12
N2 - Objective: To describe the food consumption patterns of Italian elderly subjects and the factors associated with different dietary habits. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Population-based study. Subjects: A total of 847 men and 1465 women aged 65 y or older, living in rural areas in the province of Pavia (Northern Italy) and near Cosenza (Southern Italy) in 1992-1993. Interventions: The dietary information was collected by means of a quantitative food-frequency questionnaire, with cluster analysis being used to segregate the subjects on the basis of similarities in their food consumption. A generalised logistic regression model including residence, age, living status, education, physical activity and degree of disability was fitted to assess the factors associated with different food consumption habits. Results: Six dietary clusters were selected for men and seven for women. The largest cluster for both genders was 'small eaters' (46% of men and 51% of women); 'big eaters', 'light diet' and 'alcohol' clusters were also identified for both genders. The men were also grouped into 'balanced diet' and 'cheese' clusters, and the women into 'sweet', 'greens' and 'butter' clusters. Conclusions: In addition to the influence of the area of residence - residents in Northern Italy consume greater amounts of animal fats, sugar and alcoholic beverages, and those living in Southern Italy have a greater intake of fruit, vegetables, fish and olive oil - all of the other studied variables predicted the probabilities of falling into a specific dietary cluster.
AB - Objective: To describe the food consumption patterns of Italian elderly subjects and the factors associated with different dietary habits. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Population-based study. Subjects: A total of 847 men and 1465 women aged 65 y or older, living in rural areas in the province of Pavia (Northern Italy) and near Cosenza (Southern Italy) in 1992-1993. Interventions: The dietary information was collected by means of a quantitative food-frequency questionnaire, with cluster analysis being used to segregate the subjects on the basis of similarities in their food consumption. A generalised logistic regression model including residence, age, living status, education, physical activity and degree of disability was fitted to assess the factors associated with different food consumption habits. Results: Six dietary clusters were selected for men and seven for women. The largest cluster for both genders was 'small eaters' (46% of men and 51% of women); 'big eaters', 'light diet' and 'alcohol' clusters were also identified for both genders. The men were also grouped into 'balanced diet' and 'cheese' clusters, and the women into 'sweet', 'greens' and 'butter' clusters. Conclusions: In addition to the influence of the area of residence - residents in Northern Italy consume greater amounts of animal fats, sugar and alcoholic beverages, and those living in Southern Italy have a greater intake of fruit, vegetables, fish and olive oil - all of the other studied variables predicted the probabilities of falling into a specific dietary cluster.
KW - Cluster analysis
KW - Elderly
KW - Food intake
KW - Nutrition
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0348143233&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0348143233&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601719
DO - 10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601719
M3 - Article
C2 - 14647215
AN - SCOPUS:0348143233
VL - 57
SP - 1514
EP - 1521
JO - European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
JF - European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
SN - 0954-3007
IS - 12
ER -