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Disparities in fruit and vegetable intake at the intersection of gender and education in northern Sweden: A cross-sectional study
In this cross-sectional study by Vogt & Gustafsson (2022), the authors aimed to investigate whether the known inequalities in the intake of fruits and vegetables are influenced by social identities and social status, namely, gender and education. To do so, the authors used data from the 2018 Health on Equal Terms survey (northern Sweden), providing information on a total of 21853 participants. The authors categorized the data according to gender and education (high/low educational attainment, men/women) and investigated three possible outcomes: lower intake of both fruits and vegetables, of vegetables alone, or fruits alone. Analysis of the results revealed that educated women had the highest probability of consuming adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables, separately or in combination, while uneducated men had the highest likelihood of reduced intake in all three categories. Further analysis revealed that the differences observed between educated women and uneducated men are explained by inequalities in gender and education, as other excess intersectional disparities existing beyond gender and education were not sufficient to account for the observed results. The authors conclude that these results demonstrate the need for targeted policies and intervention methods aimed at dietary inequality for vulnerable groups, in addition to a universal approach, thus improving overall efficiency. [NPID: Intersectionality, joint disparity, referent disparity, excess intersectional disparity, fruits, vegetables, discriminatory accuracy, gender, education, Sweden]
Year: 2022
