Zhu Yinjie, Ocké Marga C, de Vet Emely
Consumption and Healthy Lifestyles Chair Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands.
Eur J Public Health. 2025 Aug 1;35(4):714-719. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckaf095.
Transitioning to more plant-based diets is crucial for both planetary and human health, and ensuring an equitable transition across all socio-economic groups is also important. However, empirical evidence on the prevalence and socio-economic disparities in vegetarianism and flexitarianism over time in the same population is scarce. This study investigated this in a general Dutch adult population over 15 years. From three general assessments of the Dutch Lifelines study, 143 359 participants from assessment 1 (2006-2013), 100 859 participants from assessment 2 (2013-2017), and 55 282 participants from assessment 3 (2019-2024) were included in this study. The dietary identity was self-reported, collected at each assessment, and categorized into following a vegetarian, flexitarian, other, and no special diet. Socio-economic status was indicated by education attainment. The association between socio-economic status and different dietary identities was estimated using multinomial logistic regression. The prevalence of individuals following vegetarian or flexitarian diet doubled over the three assessment periods, with the proportion of vegetarians and flexitarians increasing from 2.02% to 4.11% and from 3.50% to 7.16%, respectively. Across three assessments, lower education attainment was consistently associated with a lower likelihood of following a vegetarian or flexitarian diet. For example, in assessment 1 individuals with low education attainment were 77% (relative risk ratio [95% CI]: 0.23 [0.20-0.25]) less likely to follow a vegetarian diet compared to those with high education attainment. In a Dutch population cohort, we observed an increasing trend of vegetarian and flexitarian diets over 15 years, along with persistent socio-economic inequalities in these diets.
向更多以植物为基础的饮食过渡对地球和人类健康都至关重要，确保所有社会经济群体公平过渡也很重要。然而，关于同一人群中素食主义和弹性素食主义的流行情况及其社会经济差异随时间变化的实证证据却很匮乏。本研究在15年的时间里对荷兰成年普通人群进行了调查。从荷兰生命线研究的三次综合评估中，本研究纳入了评估1（2006 - 2013年）的143359名参与者、评估2（2013 - 2017年）的100859名参与者以及评估3（2019 - 2024年）的55282名参与者。饮食类型由参与者自行报告，在每次评估时收集，并分为素食、弹性素食、其他和无特殊饮食四类。社会经济地位通过教育程度来表示。使用多项逻辑回归估计社会经济地位与不同饮食类型之间的关联。在这三个评估期内，遵循素食或弹性素食饮食的个体比例翻了一番，素食者和弹性素食者的比例分别从2.02%增至4.11%，从3.50%增至7.16%。在三次评估中，较低的教育程度始终与遵循素食或弹性素食饮食的可能性较低相关。例如，在评估1中，与高学历者相比，低学历者遵循素食饮食的可能性低77%（相对风险比[95%置信区间]：0.23[0.20 - 0.25]）。在一个荷兰人群队列中，我们观察到15年来素食和弹性素食饮食呈上升趋势，同时这些饮食在社会经济方面存在持续的不平等现象。
