Adherence to the Nordic food-based dietary guidelines in subgroups of the Finnish adult population

Tiina Suikki; Heli Tapanainen; Mirkka Maukonen; Satu Männistö; Niina E. Kaartinen

doi:10.29219/fnr.v70.13737

Tiina Suikki Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Public Health, Helsinki, Finland; University of Helsinki, Department of Public Health, Helsinkin, Finland
Heli Tapanainen Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Public Health, Helsinki, Finland https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8402-2897
Mirkka Maukonen Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Public Health, Helsinki, Finland; Folkhälsan Research Center, Public Health Research Program, Helsinki, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2179-6904
Satu Männistö Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Public Health, Helsinki, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8668-3046
Niina E. Kaartinen Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Department of Public Health, Helsinki, Finland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6812-2237

DOI: https://doi.org/10.29219/fnr.v70.13737

Keywords: adults, food-based dietary guidelines, general population, National Cancer Institute method, nutrition recommendations, usual intake modelling

Abstract

Background: The most recent Nordic Nutrition Recommendations including food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) were published in 2023. The FBDGs covered 15 food groups with seven quantitative recommendations for plant-based and animal-based food groups.

Objective: Our aim was to model usual intake distributions of these food groups and examine adherence to the quantitative recommendations in Finnish men and women as well as across different subgroups.

Design: We used data from the National FinDiet 2017 Survey including 780 men and 875 women aged 18–74 years. Diet was assessed with two non-consecutive 24-h recalls. Usual intake distributions of food groups with quantitative recommendations (whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and berries, nuts and seeds, vegetable oils, red and processed meat, milk and dairy products, and fish and seafood) were modelled with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) method. Based on modelled distributions, proportions of men and women meeting the recommendations for these food groups were assessed by subgroups (age, education, physical activity, weight status, and total energy intake). Statistically significant differences were evaluated with non-overlapping 95% confidence intervals.

Results: In general, men and women fell below the recommendations of plant-based food groups and exceeded the recommendations for animal-based food groups. Older age, higher education level and higher physical activity were associated with higher adherence to the FBDGs. Higher energy intake was associated with higher adherence to plant-based food recommendations and lower adherence to animal-based food recommendations (except for fish and fish products).

Conclusions: In general, Finnish adults are far from meeting the Nordic FBDGs, which highlights the importance of efficient implementation strategies across different population subgroups to increase the consumption of plant-based foods and decrease the consumption of animal-based foods.

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