Consumption patterns and food attitudes of a sample of 657 low-income people in France

Abstract

Being on a low income would appear to relate most often to an unbalanced diet, both quantitatively and qualitatively, which may be damaging to health in the long term. Particularly, a lower consumption of fruit and vegetables and a higher consumption of starchy and sweet food products can be emphasized. Shopping patterns are typified by the search for low-priced products, mostly in big supermarkets and discount shops. This study, carried out on 657 people in three different regions of France, attempts to identify different “food strategies” among sub-groups of this population, who are faced with financial difficulties. We thus distinguish four categories of people: 38% favour fresh food products and enjoy preparing food; 26% do not take an interest in cooking and have irregular meal patterns; 23% behave more like the average consumer, looking for easy-to-cook and good quality products; and 13% look for food at the lowest price and buy mainly tinned food. A high score in cooking know-how was correlated with an appreciation of fresh produce and home cooking.