Abstract
The diet quality of rural Australians is under researched. Characterising disparities in diet quality between rural and urban populations may inform targeted interventions in at- risk groups. A cross-sectional study aimed to determine the relationship between diet quality, rurality and sociodemographic characteristics in a sample of Australian adults. Participants were recruited at rural and regional events between 2017 and 2020, in New South Wales, Australia. Diet quality was measured using the Healthy Eating Quiz or Australian Eating Survey to generate an Australian Recommended Food Score (ARFS). ARFS was compared by rurality and sociodemographic characteristics using multivariate regression. Participants (n = 247; 53% female) had a mean ± SD ARFS of 34.5 ± 9.0. There was no significant effect of rurality on ARFS (β-coefficient = −0.4; 95%CI −3.0, 2.3). Compared to participants aged 18–30 years, higher ARFS was evident for those aged 31–50 (β = 5.4; 95%CI 0.3, 10.4), 51–70 (β = 4.4; 95%CI 0.3, 8.5) and >71 years (β = 6.5; 95% CI 1.6–11.4). Compared to those living alone, participants living with a partner (β = 5.2; 95%CI 2.0, 8.4) and families with children (β = 5.6; 95%CI 1.4, 9.8) had significantly higher ARFS. ARFS was significantly lower with each additional self-reported chronic health condition (β = −1.4; 95%CI −2.3, −0.4). Our results indicate that diet quality as defined by the ARFS was classified as ‘getting there’ and that age, living arrangements and chronic health conditions, but not rurality, influenced diet quality in a sample of Australian adults.
Highlights
This study investigated the relationship between sociodemographic characteristics and diet quality using the Australian Recommended Food Score (ARFS) in a sample of rural and urban Australian adults
Future research may consider not grouping health conditions into predefined groups, so a more thorough exploration between diet quality and health outcomes can be prioritised. This present study suggested that the diet quality in our sample of rural and urban Australian adults was classified as “getting there”, and that rurality did not influence diet quality in this sample
It highlighted that living alone may be a primary driver of diet quality and this sociodemographic characteristic should be investigated further in future research
Summary
The diet quality of rural Australians is under researched. Characterising disparities in diet quality between rural and urban populations may inform targeted interventions in at- risk groups. A cross-sectional study aimed to determine the relationship between diet quality, rurality and sociodemographic characteristics in a sample of Australian adults. Specific dietary risk factors for the development of diet-related disease have been identified as low consumption of fruits, vegetables and wholegrains, together with rising consumption of sodium and saturated fats [3–8]. In 2018, approximately 29% of the Australian population lived in rural or remote locations [9]. People living in rural and remote locations have shorter lives and experience disproportionately higher levels of chronic diet-related disease such as coronary heart disease, stroke, chronic kidney disease and type 2 diabetes when compared to their metropolitan counterparts [9–12].
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