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Interventions and public health nutrition

Trends in food consumption over 30 years: evidence from a British birth cohort

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 69, pages 817–823 (2015)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

As populations are ageing, more emphasis is placed on healthy ageing. Over the past decades, food consumption patterns and food availability have also changed drastically, and therefore this study aimed to describe these changes in an ageing population.

Subjects/Methods:

Food consumption of participants from the Medical Research Council National Survey on Health and Development, a British birth cohort study, was assessed using a 5-day estimated food records at 60–64 years (2006–11), 53 years (1999), 43 years (1989) and 36 years (1982). Only those who recorded ⩾3 days at all four time points were included in the analyses, n=989 (n=438 men and n=551 women); trends were tested using the Friedman test.

Results:

Consumption of white bread, whole milk, fats and oils, meat and meat products, alcoholic drinks, coffee, sugar, preserves and confectionery decreased (P<0.001), whereas consumption of wholemeal and granary bread, semi-skimmed milk, fish and fruit and vegetables increased (P<0.001) over time. These observed changes in food consumption reflect a healthier diet, for example, replacement of white bread by granary and wholemeal bread, lower consumption of red and processed meats, somewhat higher consumption of fish, higher consumption of vegetables and lower consumption of coffee. This could partly be because of ageing of the cohort or compliance with dietary recommendations, facilitated by greater availability of healthier foods, such as semi-skimmed milk and wholegrain bread, in the UK.

Conclusions:

The changes in food consumption in this British birth cohort over the past three decades are encouraging and reflect a healthier diet in the later years.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to MRC NSHD study members who took part in this latest data collection for their continuing support. We thank members of the MRC NSHD scientific and data collection teams at the following centres: MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, MRC Human Nutrition Research, Cambridge; Welcome Trust (WT) Clinical Research Facility (CRF) Manchester; WTCRF at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh; WTCRF at University Hospital Birmingham; WTCRF at University College London Hospital; CRF at the University Hospital of Wales; CRF and Twin Research Unit at St Thomas’ Hospital London; the National Centre for Social Research. We thank Darren Cole and David Pell for their help with data management and the NSHD dietary assessment team for coding the diaries. This work was supported by the MRC grant numbers U1200632239 and U123092720.

Author contributions

GP analysed and interpreted the data and wrote the manuscript. AMS and CJP designed and supervised the research. AMS, CJP, SAM and DK contributed to the writing of the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Diabetes and Nutritional Sciences Division, King’s College London, London, UK

    G K Pot

  2. MRC Human Nutrition Research, Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, Cambridge, UK

    G K Pot, C J Prynne, S Almoosawi & and A M Stephen

  3. Human Nutrition Research Centre and Institute of Health & Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK

    S Almoosawi

  4. MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing, London, UK

    D Kuh

  5. Department of Nutritional Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Surrey University, Surrey, UK

    and A M Stephen

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  1. G K Pot
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the NSHD scientific and data collection teams

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Correspondence to G K Pot.

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Pot, G., Prynne, C., Almoosawi, S. et al. Trends in food consumption over 30 years: evidence from a British birth cohort. Eur J Clin Nutr 69, 817–823 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2014.223

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