Does socioeconomic status affect fruit and vegetable intake? Evidence from a cross-sectional analysis of the RaNCD Cohort
Mahin Amini, Farid Najafi, Ali Kazemi Karyani, Yahya Pasdar, Mehnoosh Samadi, Mehdi Moradinazar
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate socioeconomic inequality in fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake and contributing factors. Data of 9981 participants from the recruitment phase of Ravansar Non-Communicable Diseases (RaNCD) cohort study were included in the final analysis. The concentration index was calculated to measure the inequality. The prevalence of adequate F&V intake was 55.8% and concentration index was 0.178, indicating that more people in the higher SES group are consuming enough F&V. Place of residence, followed by SES, had the greatest contribution to F&V intake inequality in the west of Iran. It is suggested that villagers and the poor be the target group for interventions to increase fruit and vegetable access.