title: Educational differences in dietary intake and compliance with dietary recommendations in a Swiss adult population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study assessed the impact of education on diet and compliance with the national recommendations.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 4338 adult participants of the Colaus study, a cross-sectional, population-based study conducted between 2009 and 2012 in Lausanne (Switzerland). Education was categorized as primary, apprenticeship, secondary, and tertiary.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Men with primary vs. tertiary education had a lower intake of monounsaturated fatty acids (29.4 vs. 30.9 g/day), iron (11.4 vs. 11.8 mg/day), vitamin A (758.2 vs. 904.2 retinol equivalents/day), and vitamin D (2.3 vs. 3.0 μg/day). Women with primary vs. tertiary education had a lower intake of monounsaturated fatty acids (25.5 vs. 27.4 g/day), fiber (15.6 vs. 17.2 g/day) and iron (9.8 vs. 10.3 mg/day). Men with primary vs. tertiary education had a better compliance with protein recommendations [odds ratio (95 % CI): 2.31 (1.37; 3.90)], while women with primary vs. tertiary education had a better compliance with vitamin A recommendations [odds ratio 1.74 (1.15; 2.65)].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Overall, our results do not confirm a unidirectional association between education and diet, and question the approach of targeted interventions alone in selected educational groups to prevent chronic diseases.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (IUMSP), Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Ana-Lucia
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Mayén
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (IUMSP), Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.|Unit of Population Epidemiology, University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.|Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.
authors.forename: Idris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Guessous
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (IUMSP), Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Fred
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Paccaud
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (IUMSP), Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stringhini
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Internal Medicine, Lausanne University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland. Pedro-Manuel.Marques-Vidal@chuv.ch.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marques-Vidal
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004522:Educational Status; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013557:Switzerland
keywords: Compliance; Diet; Education; Switzerland