Table 2.
Associations between percentage of energy from ultra-processed foods (% of total energy) and socio-demographic and diet quality characteristics in Australian adults from the 2011–2012 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey (n 8209)
| Characteristic | % of total energy intake from ultra-processed foods | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crude β | 95 % CI | P-value | Adjusted β | 95 % CI | P-value | |
| Sex | ||||||
| Male | Reference | – | 0·017 | Reference | – | 0·308 |
| Female | −1·7 | −3·1, −0·3 | −0·8 | −2·2, 0·5 | ||
| Age (years) | ||||||
| 19–30 | Reference | – | <0·001 | Reference | – | <0·001 |
| 31–50 | −5·5 | −7·4, −3·6 | −4·6 | −6·4, −2·9 | ||
| 51–70 | −9·6 | −11·6, −7·6 | −8·3 | −10·3, −6·4 | ||
| 71+ | −6·8 | −9·1, −4·5 | −5·5 | −8·0, −2·9 | ||
| Country of birth | ||||||
| Australia | Reference | – | <0·001 | Reference | – | <0·001 |
| Main English-speaking country | −2·8 | −4·7, −0·8 | −1·2 | −2·9, 0·4 | ||
| Other | −9·4 | −11·2, −7·5 | −8·1 | −9·8, −6·3 | ||
| Area-level disadvantage* | ||||||
| First quintile (greater disadvantage) | Reference | – | <0·001 | Reference | – | 0·048 |
| Second quintile | −1·9 | −4·0, 0·3 | −1·0 | −2·8, 0·8 | ||
| Third quintile | −1·6 | −3·9, 0·5 | −0·1 | −1·9, 1·7 | ||
| Fourth quintile | −3·5 | −5·7, −1·3 | −0·7 | −2·9, 1·4 | ||
| Fifth quintile (most advantage) | −5·9 | −8·1, −3·7 | −2·4 | −4·6, −0·1 | ||
| Education† | ||||||
| Low | Reference | – | <0·001 | Reference | – | 0·005 |
| Medium | −0·4 | −1·9, 1·2 | −0·8 | −2·5, 0·8 | ||
| High | −5·7 | −7·7, −3·7 | −2·3 | −4·5, −0·2 | ||
| Household income‡ | ||||||
| First quintile (20 % lowest income) | Reference | – | 0·016 | Reference | – | 0·011 |
| Second quintile | 4·0 | 2·1, 5·9 | 3·4 | 1·7, 5·1 | ||
| Third quintile | 2·5 | 0·5, 4·5 | 1·9 | 0·2, 3·5 | ||
| Fourth quintile | 2·6 | 0·6, 4·6 | 2·2 | 0·3, 4·2 | ||
| Fifth quintile (20 % highest income) | −1·9 | −3·6, −0·2 | −1·2 | −3·1, 0·7 | ||
| Rurality | ||||||
| Major city of Australia | Reference | – | 0·002 | Reference | – | 0·904 |
| Inner regional Australia | 3·3 | 1·7, 4·9 | 0·6 | −0·8, 2·1 | ||
| Other | 2·1 | −0·2, 4·3 | 0·3 | −1·8, 2·3 | ||
| Diet quality (DGI) score§ | −0·5 | −0·5, −0·5 | <0·001 | −0·5 | −0·5, −0·4 | <0·001 |
DGI, Australian Dietary Guideline Index.
Calculated using Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage – 2011 – quintiles – national.
Low (incomplete high school or less), medium (completed high school or incomplete high school and/or certificate/diploma) and high (tertiary qualification).
Combined income of all household members aged ≥ 15 years, divided into quintiles of the population.
DGI scores could range between 0 and 130, with a higher score indicating better diet quality.
Adjusted linear regression analyses were controlled for all the other variables in the table (socio-demographics and diet quality), BMI, physical activity and smoking status.