title: [Health inequalities and nutrition in Italy during crisis times].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  to describe systematically unhealthy patterns in nutrition behaviours, with a special focus on the impact of social, gender, geographical, and age inequalities on diet; to evaluate the potential impact of economic crisis on healthy nutrition choices and on health inequalities.
  
  
  METHODS
  cross sectional study within national surveys.
  
  
  METHODS
  population ≥20 years, from representative samples of the Italian population in official national multipurpose surveys, in the periods 2005-2007 and 2009-2012.
  
  
  METHODS
  prevalence, population attributable fraction (PAF), and relative time variation between periods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  wide differences on the prevalence of nutrition healthy behaviour have been found according to social position (low educated have higher consumption of meat, carbohydrates, salty food, higher breakfast skipping rates as well as lower consumption of fish), geographical area (Northern regions have higher consumption of meat, carbohydrates and fats, whereas Southern ones have lower consumption of fruit and vegetables, higher obesity, and overweight rates). Economic crises seems to have had an impact on nutrition (reduction of meat, fruit and vegetable consumption, increase on snack and legumes frequencies, less fish, and meat presence on diet), but lower than expected. Besides, if long period trends seem to increase health inequalities on nutrition, crisis seems to have had an opposite effect.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  unhealthy patterns seem to be present in Italian food behaviour and long time trends appear to increase them, as illustrated by the spread of obesity and overweight. Nevertheless, Mediterranean diet does not seem to be too much at risk. Economic crisis has been frequently recognized as a determinant of nutrition patterns worsening, but it has had different impacts. Furthermore, health inequalities could be decreased in crisis times.
authors.affiliation: Servizio di epidemiologia, ASL TO3, Regione Piemonte. michele.marra@epi.piemonte.it.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Marra
authors.affiliation: Servizio di epidemiologia, ASL TO3, Regione Piemonte.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Migliardi
authors.affiliation: Servizio di epidemiologia, ASL TO3, Regione Piemonte.|Dipartimento di igiene e sanità pubblica, Università di Torino.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Costa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D038441:Diet, Mediterranean / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D057172:Economic Recession; D005399:Fishes; D005638:Fruit; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008460:Meat / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014675:Vegetables