Folate intake in a Swedish adult population: Food sources and predictive factors

Figures & data

Table 1. General characteristics of the study population.

	Total (n = 1657)	Men (n = 724)	Women (n = 933)	p^a
Age (years)
Mean	49.61	50.87	48.64	0.007^b
SD	16.59	16.31	16.74
Body mass index (kg/m^2)
Mean	25.46	26.05	25.00	<0.001^b
SD	4.34	3.82	4.57
Educational level (%)
University	42.5	38.3	45.7	0.002
Non-university	57.5	61.7	54.3
Vegetarian (%)
Yes	4.8	3.2	6.1	0.006
Diet (%)
Yes	5.4	4.9	5.9	0.385
Organic fruit and vegetables (%)
Yes	42.2	39.9	44.1	0.086
Nutritional supplements (%)
Yes	49.4	41.3	55.7	<0.001
Alcohol intake (g/day)
Mean	9.41	11.95	7.46	<0.001^b
SD	12.25	13.92	10.39
Smoking (%)
Yes	16.2	15.5	16.7	0.529

^aChi-squared test.

^bStudent’s t test.

Table 2. Percentage of participants who consumed each food group, and grams per day consumed for men and women.

Food groups	Men (n = 724)			Women (n = 933)			p^b
	%	Mean^a	SD	%	Mean^a	SD
Fish and shellfish/seafood	30.4	71.93	50.72	43.2	55.30	38.81	<0.001
Meat and meat products	42.2	149.54	79.70	53.9	107.07	58.20	<0.001
Eggs	22.0	36.55	29.68	31.5	35.59	28.41	0.626
Potatoes	43.0	139.04	105.07	56.3	79.91	70.70	<0.001
Vegetables and pulses	40.6	124.33	87.50	54.8	142.03	88.69	<0.001
Fruit and berries	34.3	137.67	106.16	51.5	162.62	106.68	<0.001
Milk products	38.0	289.24	191.46	51.3	243.39	156.13	<0.001
Cream and crème fraîche	12.4	20.68	16.72	21.9	18.25	15.81	0.086
Cheese	36.6	28.18	21.83	50.6	26.28	22.39	0.107
Fast food	18.6	119.65	76.74	20.6	89.08	60.73	<0.001
Pasta, rice, and grain	32.8	109.15	71.92	43.5	80.44	57.81	<0.001
Bread	42.8	99.69	51.50	55.2	73.97	39.27	<0.001
Cereals	28.8	78.56	76.20	39.3	63.11	65.36	<0.001
Sweet bakery products and sweets	38.0	80.92	60.55	52.0	66.63	49.70	<0.001
Salads	8.8	73.72	39.99	12.3	68.46	40.21	0.228
Soups	12.6	110.38	59.77	17.4	90.32	56.09	<0.001
Sauces, dressings, and condiments	33.1	47.40	38.18	46.5	38.84	33.93	<0.001
Substitute products	1.7	77.96	63.84	3.3	96.83	83.75	0.299
Fats	35.8	16.02	10.91	47.6	12.02	8.76	<0.001
Snacks	8.7	16.76	13.69	13.7	11.36	12.49	<0.001
Nuts and seeds	8.3	18.46	14.00	17.9	15.04	12.35	0.010
Juice	19.5	143.71	100.07	23.2	120.73	90.29	0.002
Coffee	37.2	441.65	247.99	45.8	406.12	224.67	0.006
Tea	16.8	236.76	186.96	31.4	260.84	237.37	0.116
Soda	23.3	213.05	180.29	28.2	181.55	159.55	0.008
Alcoholic beverages	28.4	273.82	204.87	31.4	176.04	142.77	<0.001

^aMean (g/day) intake for individuals reporting consumption of the item.

^bStudent’s t test.

Table 3. Folate sources by age group for women (stepwise regression analysis).

18–30 years	% R^2	Change in R^2	31–44 years	% R^2	Change in R^2
Vegetables and pulses	37.8	37.8	Vegetables and pulses	49.1	49.1
Milk products	54.8	17.0	Fruit and berries	63.1	14.0
Bread	62.9	8.0	Bread	70.9	7.8
Fruit and berries	69.9	7.0	Milk products	76.5	5.6
Juice	74.8	4.9	Potatoes	80.2	3.7
Eggs	78.9	4.2	Fast food	83.2	3.0
Fast food	82.6	3.7	Juice	85.6	2.3
Fish and shellfish/seafood	85.3	2.7	Eggs	87.6	2.0
Nuts and seeds	87.3	1.9	Substitute products	89.2	1.6
Potatoes	89.2	1.9	Salads	90.4	1.2
Tea	90.7	1.5	Soups	91.6	1.2
Substitute products	91.6	0.9	Meat	92.6	1.0
Cheese	92.5	0.9	Fish and shellfish/seafood	93.4	0.8
Meat	93.3	0.8	Nuts and sees	94.1	0.7
			Pasta, rice, and grain	94.5	0.4
			Sweet bakery products and sweets	94.7	0.1
45–64 years	% R^2	Change in R^2	>64 years	% R^2	Change in R^2
Vegetables and pulses	49.7	49.7	Vegetables and pulses	44.7	44.7
Fruit and berries	62.5	12.8	Fruit and berries	61.5	16.9
Bread	70.6	8.1	Juice	70.6	9.1
Milk products	75.2	4.6	Bread	76.6	6.0
Juice	79.4	4.1	Milk products	81.8	5.2
Eggs	82.9	3.5	Potatoes	85.8	4.0
Potatoes	85.5	2.6	Soups	88.6	2.8
Fast food	87.8	2.2	Eggs	90.7	2.1
Tea	89.9	2.1	Nuts and seeds	92.0	1.2
Nuts and seeds	91.1	1.2	Fish and shellfish/seafood	92.8	0.9
Soups	92.3	1.2	Tea	93.7	0.9
Meat	93.5	1.2	Meat	94.6	0.8
Salads	94.7	1.2	Fast food	95.6	1.0
Fish and shellfish/seafood	95.6	0.9	Cheese	96.3	0.7
Cheese	96.1	0.5
Sweet bakery products and sweets	96.3	0.1

The cut-off p value for entry into the equation was p = 0.017 for the 18–30 year age group, p = 0.043 for the 31–44 year group, p = 0.005 for the 45–64 year group, and p = 0.012 for the >64 year age group.

Table 4. Folate sources by age group for men (stepwise regression analysis).

18–30 years	% R^2	Change in R^2	31–44 years	% R^2	Change in R^2
Vegetables and pulses	30.3	30.3	Vegetables and pulses	33.9	33.9
Milk products	42.7	13.5	Bread	46.4	12.6
Juice	54.8	12.3	Potatoes	55.1	8.7
Bread	61.6	7.0	Fast food	63.1	8.3
Substitute products	67.3	5.8	Milk products	70.4	6.9
Potatoes	73.1	5.8	Fruit and berries	75.6	5.2
Fast food	78.2	5.1	Juice	80.7	5.0
Eggs	82.5	4.3	Sweet bakery products and sweets	83.7	3.1
Fruit and berries	86.5	4.0	Cereals	86.7	3.0
Meat	88.4	1.9	Eggs	89.0	2.3
Tea	90.3	1.9	Meat	91.3	2.2
Cheese	91.5	1.2	Soups	92.6	1.3
Sweet bakery products and sweets	92.1	0.6	Fish and shellfish/seafood	93.9	1.3
			Salads	95.0	1.1
			Nuts and seeds	95.7	0.7
45–64 years	% R^2	Change in R^2	>64 years	% R^2	Change in R^2
Vegetables and pulses	44.0	44.0	Vegetables and pulses	37.3	37.3
Bread	57.9	13.9	Fruit and berries	51.4	14.2
Milk products	70.1	12.2	Bread	63.5	12.1
Potatoes	75.5	5.5	Juice	72.0	8.5
Juice	80.4	4.8	Potatoes	79.3	7.2
Fruit and berries	82.8	2.5	Milk products	84.5	5.3
Fast food	85.1	2.3	Fast food	86.5	2.0
Eggs	87.3	2.2	Fish and shellfish/seafood	88.1	1.6
Cereals	89.5	2.2	Nuts and seeds	89.2	1.1
Nuts and seeds	91.3	1.8	Soups	90.5	1.3
Fish and shellfish/seafood	92.8	1.5	Tea	91.5	1.0
Cheese	93.9	1.1	Meat	92.3	0.8
Sauces, dressings, and condiments	94.7	0.8	Cheese	92.9	0.6
Tea	95.4	0.7	Salads	93.2	0.3
Soups	96.0	0.6
Salads	96.6	0.6
Pasta, rice and grain	97.0	0.5
Sweet bakery products and sweets	97.4	0.3
Fats	97.4	0.1

The cut-off p value for entry into the equation was p = 0.011 for the 18–30 year age group, p = 0.047 for the 31–44 year group, p = 0.015 for the 45–64 year group, and p = 0.032 for the >64 year age group.

Table 5. Demographic, lifestyle, and dietary factors per tertile (T) of folate intake for men and women.

	Men (n = 724)			Women (n = 933)
	T1	T2	T3	T1	T2	T3
	Mean (SD)
Folate intake (μg/day)^a,^b	151.75	227.64	316.46	153.09	224.90	313.91
	(33.70)	(18.87)	(48.62)	(32.84)	(17.80)	(46.53)
Age (years)^a,b	49.18	52.18	52.22	46.81	47.74	51.29
	(18.06)	(17.00)	(16.49)	(18.04)	(16.32)	(16.78)
Body mass index (kg/m^2)^a	26.64	25.99	25.68	25.09	25.27	24.61
	(3.76)	(3.89)	(3.77)	(4.94)	(4.56)	(4.37)
Alcohol intake (g/day)	15.59	19.69	18.70	14.60	14.03	11.85
	(13.64)	(15.26)	(14.64)	(12.12)	(11.05)	(9.81)
	%
Higher education (university)^c,^d	23.6	30.1	46.4	27.5	36.6	35.9
Vegetarian^d	21.7	21.7	56.5	24.1	25.9	50.0
Diet	45.7	25.7	28.6	38.2	30.9	30.9
Organic fruit and vegetables^d	29.0	29.7	41.3	30.6	32.7	36.7
Nutritional supplements	26.4	35.6	38.0	32.8	34.0	33.2
Smoking^c,^d	45.5	19.6	34.8	51.0	32.9	16.1

ANOVA test: ^ap < 0.05 for men; ^bp < 0.05 for women.

Chi-squared test: ^cp < 0.05 for men; ^dp < 0.05 for women.

Table 6. Predictive factors for the highest folate intake (third tertile) for the Riksmaten 2010–11 population.

		%	OR	95% CI
Gender (all participants)	Women	56.3	Ref.
	Men		1.69	1.354–2.104
		Men			Women
		%	OR	95% CI	%	OR	95% CI
Age	≤Median (50 years)	48.5	Ref.		52.5	Ref.
	>Median (50 years)		1.28	0.922–1.773		1.67	1.233–2.264
Body mass index	<25 kg/m^2	44.4	1.52	1.101–2.089	60.6	1.30	0.950–1.778
	≥25 kg/m^2		Ref.			Ref.
Educational level	University	38.3	1.60	1.153–2.207	45.7	1.52	1.127–2.059
	Non-university		Ref.			Ref.
Vegetarian	Yes	3.2	2.20	0.890–5.434	6.1	2.23	1.246–3.988
	No		Ref.			Ref.
Diet	Yes	4.9	Ref.		5.9	Ref.
	No		1.52	0.694–3.342		1.10	0.585–2.078
Organic fruit and vegetables	Yes	39.9	1.19	0.854–1.625	44.1	1.55	1.157–2.088
	No		Ref.			Ref.
Nutritional supplements	Yes	41.3	0.94	0.684–1.302	55.7	1.30	0.964–1.748
	No		Ref.			Ref.
Smoking	Smoking	15.5	Ref.		16.7	Ref.
	Non-smoking		1.28	0.819–2.003		2.30	1.431–3.707
Alcohol intake	=Recommended^a	73.9	0.73	0.514–1.043	71.6	1.42	1.012–1.983
	>Recommended^a		Ref.			Ref.

^aRecommended alcohol intake according to Nordic Nutrition Recommendations [3]: <10 g/day for women and <20 g/day for men.

OR, odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.

Nordic Nutrition Recommendations 2012. Integrating nutrition and physical activity. Copenhagen: Nordic Council of Ministers; 2014.

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