title: Disparities in dietary habits and physical activity in Denmark and trends from 1995 to 2008.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine social disparities in dietary-, alcohol- and leisure-time physical activity habits in Danish adults from 1995 to 2008 and to test the hypothesis of widening disparities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four cross-sectional surveys of representative samples of the Danish population aged 20-75 years were analysed, a total of 7900 respondents. Dietary and alcohol habits were measured by a 7-day pre-coded food diary and physical activity and education by a face-to-face interview. Multivariate analyses were used to test associations between explanatory variables and response variables and the hypothesis of widening disparities.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In all analyses, both diet quality and physical inactivity differed systematically with educational group and with healthier habits for the group with long education. Only for alcohol habits was an opposite social gradient seen. Disparities persisted over all time periods. The analyses using "The Concentration Index" did not change any of the conclusions. Gender also influenced diet quality. Men had dietary and alcohol habits furthest away from the guidelines. A trend of healthier habits was also found over the time period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Social disparities in diet quality and leisure-time physical activity were seen for all examined time periods and with no significant change therefore, there is no support to the hypothesis of widening social disparities in all educational groups some improvement of dietary habits was found, especially for those foods where comprehensive initiatives had taken place however, social disparities still exist there is an ongoing need to address these disparities in order to reduce social inequality in health.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nutrition, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Søborg, Denmark mvgroth@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Margit Velsing
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Groth
authors.affiliation: Division of Nutrition, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Søborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Mette Rosenlund
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Sørensen
authors.affiliation: Division of Nutrition, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Søborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Jeppe
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Matthiessen
authors.affiliation: Division of Nutrition, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Søborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Sisse
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fagt
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark.
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Landvad
authors.affiliation: Division of Nutrition, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Søborg, Denmark.
authors.forename: Vibeke Kildegaard
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Knudsen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003718:Denmark; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D054624:Health Status Disparities; D006801:Humans; D007899:Leisure Activities / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Alcohol habits; dietary habits; disparities; physical activity; socioeconomic inequality; trends