Social and Racial Disparities in Food Consumption Among Brazilian College Students: a Nationwide Study

• Published in: Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities Vol. 10; no. 6; pp. 2630 - 2640
• Main Authors: Silva Júnior, André Eduardo, de Oliveira, Ana Debora Santos, Praxedes, Dafiny Rodrigues Silva, da Costa Paula, Déborah Tenório, de Lima Macena, Mateus, de Menezes Toledo Florêncio, Telma Maria, Clemente, Ana Paula Grotti, Bueno, Nassib Bezerra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01-12-2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adult; Anthropometry; Beans; Beverages; Body mass index; Brazil - epidemiology; Child development; College students; Colleges & universities; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diet; Drinks; Economics; Education; Epidemiology; Family income; Female; Food; Food consumption; Fruit juices; Gastrointestinal surgery; Health disparities; Healthy food; Humans; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Minority & ethnic groups; Nutrition; Nutrition monitoring; Nutrition research; Population; Quality of Life Research; Questionnaires; Race; Race factors; Racial inequality; Skin; Skin color; Social Inequality; Social Structure; Socioeconomic Factors; Soft drinks; Students; Surveillance systems; University students; Vegetables; Young Adult; Brazil; Social inequalities; Ethnicity and health; Economic status; Food intake; Ethnic disparities
• ISSN: 2197-3792; 2196-8837
• DOI: 10.1007/s40615-022-01441-0

This study aims to assess the association between economic class, race/skin color, and food consumption among Brazilian college students. A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted with college students from all over Brazil. Demographic data, economic class, self-reported race/skin color, anthropometry, and food consumption markers from the Brazilian Food and Nutrition Surveillance System were collected. The final sample comprised 5843 participants with a mean age of 24.1 (SD: 6.3) years, 4292 (73.5%) were female, and 810 (13.9%) in the highest economic stratum. We observed a progressive decrease in the frequency of fresh fruits and vegetables consumption from higher to lower economic classes (
p
 < 0.01 for both). Contrarily, there was a progressive increase in the frequency of consumption of beans from higher to lower economic classes (
p
 < 0.01). The frequency consumption of vegetables was also associated with race/skin color (
p
 < 0.01), being lower in brown (PR: 0.94; CI 95%: 0.90; 0.98), and black (PR: 0.91; 95% CI: 0.85; 0.98) individuals, compared to white individuals. Brown individuals showed higher frequency consumption of beans (PR: 1.10; 95% CI: 1.05; 1.15) than whites. When compared to individuals of white race/skin color, brown (PR: 1.07; 95% CI: 1.01; 1.13) and black (PR: 1.15; 95% CI: 1.07; 1.23) individuals showed higher frequency consumption of sweetened beverages. Economic class and race/skin color were independent factors associated with the food consumption of Brazilian college students.