Study Links Lower Education Levels to Unhealthy Diet

A new study finds high correlation between lower levels of education and unhealthy diet.

The study, conducted by researcher Jonas Finger along with colleagues at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, Germany, states that people with lower levels of education may consume unhealthy, high-calorie diet when compared to those people who are highly educated.

Previous research has associated unhealthy diet with people of lower socioeconomic status. Socioeconomic status includes factors like education level, income level and occupation. On the other hand, physical activity may also be linked to the socioeconomic status and dietary habits.

In the current study, in order to prove the hypothesis the researchers analyzed the association between education levels, food consumption and physical activity with the help of a survey. On examining the data that was taken from a German adult population, they noticed that adults with low level of education ate food that was rich in sugar and high in calorie levels when compared to adults with high education levels.

They also noticed that when compared to higher educated adults, those adults with lower level of education had less fruits and vegetables.

The study also examined how physically active each group was. They observed that the adults belonging to the lower socioeconomic status were more physically active and used more energy when compared to the adults belonging to the higher socioeconomic status.

These results suggest that the higher energy expenditure in this group may explain their higher consumption of sugar- and fat-rich foods.

The study was published in the journal PLOS ONE.