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Abstract
The aim was to investigate whether lifestyles or social background have stronger impact on eating patterns among young people. A school‐based survey carried out in 1998 among 15‐year‐old pupils (n=2388) in Helsinki was used as data. The lifestyle dimensions of leisure‐time activities used were street‐oriented lifestyle, commercialised lifestyle, home‐oriented lifestyle, and arts‐oriented and hobby‐oriented lifestyle. Social background was indicated by father's educational level. Three family‐related and school‐related eating measures (eating school lunch, having dinner at home and consumption of recommended foods) and two peer‐related eating measures (consumption of fast food and consumption of sweets) were analysed. Those from households with higher educational level more often took part in meals at home (boys) and at school (all), and also consumed recommended food items more often. A more street‐oriented lifestyle and a more commercialised leisure time were associated with higher intake of fast food and sweets. The results suggest that structural factors such as social background continue to have more influence than lifestyles on young people's daily diet
Notes
Eva B. Roos, Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland and Centre for Health Equity Studies (CHESS), Stockholm University, Karolinska Institutet. Sakari Karvonen, National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES), Finland. Ossi Rahkonen, Department of Social Policy, University of Helsinki, Finland. Correspondence to: Dr Eva Roos, Department of Public Health, PO Box 41, FIN‐00014, University of Helsinki, Finland. Fax: +3589 191 27540; Email: [email protected]. The authors wish to thank Ritva Prättälä for comments on earlier drafts. The Academy of Finland (project numbers 41420, 45367 and 45664) supported this study.
