Table 2.

Dietary intake according to level of education in Australian adults in the 1995 National Nutrition Survey and the 2011–13 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey^a

	OVERALL, mean [95% CI]
	Low education		Medium education		High education
	1995 n = 4875	2011–13 n = 2295	1995 n = 3785	2011–13 n = 3791	1995 n = 617	2011–13 n = 2121	p interaction SEP*Time
Energy (kJ)	9195 [9063, 9327]	8776 [8579, 8974]***	9549 [9397, 9700]	8669 [8525, 8813]***	9861 [9488, 10,235]	8991 [8790, 9193]***	0.007
Carbohydrate (%E)	45.1 [44.8, 45.5]	44.5 [43.9, 45.2]	45.4 [45.0, 45.8]	43.2 [42.7, 43.7]***	44.6 [43.6, 45.6]	42.5 [41.9, 43.2]***	0.001
Total sugars (%E)	19.9 [19.5, 20.2]	20.0 [19.4, 20.5]	19.7 [19.4, 20.1]	19.2 [18.9, 19.6]	18.8 [17.9, 19.7]	18.3 [17.8, 18.8]	0.34
Protein (%E)	16.9 [16.8, 17.1]	18.3 [17.9, 18.7]	16.7 [16.5, 16.8]	18.4 [18.1, 18.6]	16.3 [15.9, 16.7]	18.3 [17.9, 18.6]	0.17
Fat (%E)	32.1 [31.8, 32.4]	30.8 [30.3, 31.4]	31.2 [30.9, 31.5]	30.7 [30.3, 31.1]	32.0 [31.2, 32.8]	31.3 [30.8, 31.8]	0.19
SFA (%E)	12.5 [12.4, 12.7]	11.9 [11.7, 12.2]	12.2 [12.0, 12.4]	11.4 [11.2, 11.6]	12.4 [12.0, 12.8]	11.4 [11.1, 11.6]	0.35
MUFA (%E)	11.7 [11.5, 11.8]	11.6 [11.4, 11.9]	11.3 [11.2, 11.5]	11.7 [11.5, 11.9]**	11.7 [11.3, 12.1]	12.1 [11.9, 12.3]	0.036
PUFA (%E)	4.9 [4.8, 5.0]	4.5 [4.4, 4.7]***	4.8 [4.7, 4.9]	4.8 [4.7, 4.9]	4.9 [4.7, 5.1]	5.0 [4.9, 5.2]	0.0001
Fiber density (g/1000 kJ)	2.1 [2.0, 2.1]	2.6 [2.6, 2.7]	2.1 [2.1, 2.2]	2.8 [2.7, 2.8]	2.2 [2.1, 2.3]	2.9 [2.8, 3.0]	0.22
	Probability [95% CI]
	n = 3718	n = 2295	n = 2877	n = 3792	n = 483	n = 2122	p interaction SEP*Time
Fruit (≥ 2 serves/d)	0.49 [0.47, 0.51]	0.44 [0.41, 0.47]	0.52 [0.50, 0.55]	0.46 [0.44, 0.48]	0.57 [0.52, 0.63]	0.53 [0.50, 0.56]	0.68
Vegetables (≥ 4 serves/d)	0.20 [0.19, 0.22]	0.18 [0.15, 0.20]	0.18 [0.16, 0.20]	0.19 [0.17, 0.21]	0.16 [0.12, 0.20]	0.19 [0.17, 0.22]	0.05
	MEN, mean [95% CI]
	Low education		Medium education		High education
	1995 n = 2172	2011–13 n = 936	1995 n = 2001	2011–13 n = 2017	1995 n = 325	2011–13 n = 944	p interaction SEP*Time
Energy (kJ)	10,995 [10,781, 11,209]	10,242 [9915, 10,568]	11,240 [11,020, 11,460]	9981 [9771, 10,191]	11,525 [10,961, 12,089]	10,174 [9844, 10,504]	0.09
Carbohydrate (%E)	44.2 [43.7, 44.7]	44.2 [43.3, 45.1]	44.7 [44.2, 45.2]	43.1 [42.5, 43.7]	43.8 [42.5, 45.1]	42.7 [41.8, 43.6]	0.06
Total sugars (%E)	19.5 [19.0, 20.0]	19.3 [18.5, 20.1]	18.9 [18.5, 19.4]	18.8 [18.3, 19.3]	17.8 [16.7, 18.9]	17.4 [16.7, 18.1]	0.97
Protein (%E)	16.8 [16.6, 17.1]	18.2 [17.6, 18.7]	16.6 [16.4, 16.9]	18.1 [17.8, 18.5]	16.4 [15.8, 16.9]	18.2 [17.7, 18.7]	0.58
Fat (%E)	32.1 [31.7, 32.5]	30.8 [30.1, 31.6]	31.3 [30.9, 31.7]	30.3 [29.8, 30.8]	32.1 [31.1, 33.1]	30.8 [30.1, 31.6]	0.88
SFA (%E)	12.6 [12.4, 12.8]	12.0 [11.6, 12.4]	12.4 [12.1, 12.6]	11.4 [11.2, 11.7]	12.4 [11.8, 13.0]	11.2 [10.9, 11.5]	0.22
MUFA (%E)	11.8 [11.6, 12.0]	11.6 [11.3, 12.0]	11.5 [11.3, 11.6]	11.6 [11.4, 11.8]	11.8 [11.4, 12.3]	12.1 [11.7, 12.4]	0.36
PUFA (%E)	4.9 [4.7, 5.0]	4.5 [4.3, 4.7]	4.6 [4.5, 4.7]	4.6 [4.5, 4.8]	5.0 [4.7, 5.3]	4.9 [4.7, 5.1]	0.05
Fiber density (g/1000 kJ)	1.9 [1.9, 2.0]	2.4 [2.4, 2.5]	2.0 [1.9, 2.0]	2.6 [2.5, 2.7]	2.0 [2.0, 2.1]	2.7 [2.6, 2.8]	0.09
	Probability [95% CI]
	n = 1622	n = 936	n = 1485	n = 2017	n = 239	n = 945	p interaction SEP*Time
Fruit (≥ 2 serves/d)	0.45 [0.42, 0.48]	0.38 [0.34, 0.42]	0.48 [0.45, 0.51]	0.40 [0.37, 0.43]	0.53 [0.45, 0.60]	0.48 [0.43, 0.52]	0.83
Vegetables (≥ 4 serves/d)	0.18 [0.16, 0.20]	0.16 [0.13, 0.19]	0.14 [0.12, 0.16]	0.16 [0.14, 0.18]	0.14 [0.09, 0.20]	0.16 [0.13, 0.19]	0.26
	WOMEN, mean [95% CI]
	Low education		Medium education		High education
	1995 n = 2703	2011–13 n = 1359	1995 n = 1784	2011–13 n = 1774	1995 n = 292	2011–13 n = 1177	p interaction SEP*Time
Energy (kJ)	7278 [7151, 7404]	7080 [6867, 7292]	7801 [7617, 7985]	7421 [7239, 7602]	8115 [7778, 8452]	7760 [7527, 7994]	0.55
Carbohydrate (%E)	46.0 [45.6, 46.4]	45.0 [44.1, 45.9]*	46.2 [45.7, 46.8]	43.2 [42.5, 43.9]***	45.6 [44.2, 47.1]	42.4 [41.6, 43.3]***	0.004
Total sugars (%E)	20.3 [18.9, 20.7]	20.6 [19.8, 21.4]	20.6 [20.1, 21.1]	19.7 [19.1, 20.2]	20.1 [18.7, 21.4]	19.3 [18.6, 19.9]	0.09
Protein (%E)	17.0 [16.8, 17.2]	18.4 [17.9, 18.9]	16.7 [16.4, 17.0]	18.7 [18.3, 19.1]	16.1 [15.6, 16.7]	18.4 [17.9, 18.8]	0.10
Fat (%E)	32.1 [31.7, 32.5]	30.9 [30.1, 31.6]	31.1 [30.6, 31.6]	31.1 [30.5, 31.7]	31.7 [30.5, 32.9]	31.7 [31.1, 32.4]	0.05
SFA (%E)	12.5 [12.3, 12.7]	11.8 [11.5, 12.2]	12.0 [11.8, 12.3]	11.4 [11.1, 11.7]	12.4 [11.8, 13.0]	11.5 [11.2, 11.9]	0.88
MUFA (%E)	11.6 [11.4, 11.7]	11.6 [11.3, 12.0]	11.1 [10.9, 11.3]	11.9 [11.6, 12.1]***	11.5 [10.9, 12.0]	12.1 [11.8, 12.5]*	0.031
PUFA (%E)	5.0 [4.9, 5.1]	4.6 [4.4, 4.8]**	4.9 [4.8, 5.1]	5.1 [4.9, 5.3]	4.8 [4.5, 5.1]	5.2 [5.0, 5.4]*	0.0001
Fiber density (g/1000 kJ)	2.2 [2.2, 2.3]	2.8 [2.7, 2.9]	2.3 [2.3, 2.4]	2.9 [2.8, 3.0]	2.4 [2.3, 2.5]	3.0 [2.9, 3.2]	0.87
	Probability [95%CI]
	n = 2096	n = 1359	n = 1392	n = 1775	n = 244	n = 1177	p interaction SEP*Time
Fruit (≥ 2 serves/d)	0.53 [0.51, 0.56]	0.51 [0.47, 0.54]	0.57 [0.54, 0.60]	0.52 [0.49, 0.55]	0.62 [0.55, 0.69]	0.59 [0.55, 0.62]	0.78
Vegetables (≥ 4 serves/d)	0.23 [0.20, 0.25]	0.19 [0.17, 0.22]	0.22 [0.19, 0.25]	0.22 [0.19, 0.24]	0.18 [0.12, 0.23]	0.23 [0.20, 0.26]	0.09

^aAbbreviations: %E % of energy, SEP socioeconomic position

Asterisks indicate significantly different compared to 1995 value *p < 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, ***p < 0.001

Values represent survey-weighted, covariate adjusted means (or probabilities where indicated) and 95% CI

Linear and logistic regression models were adjusted for age, sex/gender (except in stratified analyses), and smoking. Where results of the overall F test were statistically significant, pairwise comparisons were performed to examine change in intakes over time according to educational level

Low education: less than secondary; Medium education: secondary/diploma/trade; High education: tertiary

Bold data indicates statistically significant differences (p  < 0.05)