Differences in food consumption observed between men, women

Issue: July 2012

Understanding food consumption habits may help identify foods that are associated with outbreaks of foodborne diseases, researchers said.

“Men and women have different habits of food consumption,” Beletshachew Shiferaw, MD, MPH,of the Oregon Public Health Division, told Infectious Disease News. “More women than men said they eat fruits and vegetables, and more men than women said they eat meat. In an outbreak investigation, food consumption pattern of the affected group can be compared to the general population to examine if there are differences that merit further investigation.”

Beletshachew Shiferaw

Shiferaw and colleagues conducted a study from May 2006 to April 2007 that included data from the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network Population Survey. They analyzed differences in food consumption between men and women.

Participants (n=14,878; 38% male) took part in a telephone survey that established what they had consumed in the previous days. They were asked particularly about high-risk foods that often are associated with foodborne illness: pink hamburger, raw oysters, unpasteurized milk, cheese made from unpasteurized milk, runny eggs and alfalfa sprouts.

Men were more likely to have eaten meat and certain poultry items vs. women, but more women ate fruits and vegetables. More men ate runny eggs, pink hamburger and raw oysters, but more women ate alfalfa sprouts. There was no difference in the consumption of unpasteurized milk and cheese.

“These data can be used to target health education and also can be used in outbreak investigation,” Shiferaw said. “Our study did not examine frequency and quantity of food consumption, and future studies should examine this. Also, future studies can look further and determine why there is a difference in food consumption between men and women.”

References:

Shiferaw B. Clin Infect Dis. 2012;54:S453-S457.

Disclosures:

Dr. Shiferaw reports no relevant financial disclosures.