Consumption of predefined 'Nordic' dietary items in ten European countries - an investigation in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

  • Nina Roswall
  • Anja Olsen
  • Katja Boll
  • Jane Christensen
  • Jytte Halkjær
  • Christina C Dahm
  • Kim Overvad
  • Françoise Clavel-Chapelon
  • Marie C Boutron-Ruault
  • Vanessa Cottet
  • Birgit Teucher
  • Rudolf Kaaks
  • Heiner Boeing
  • Anne von Ruesten
  • Antonia Trichopoulou
  • Eleni Oikonomou
  • Effie Vasilopoulou
  • Valeria Pala
  • Carlotta Sacerdote
  • Amalia Mattiello
  • Giovanna Masala
  • Petra H M Peeters
  • H Bas Bueno-de-Mesquita
  • Dagrun Engeset
  • Guri Skeie
  • Lene A Asli
  • Pilar Amiano
  • Paula Jakszyn
  • Eva Ardanaz
  • José M Huerta
  • José R Quirós
  • Esther Molina-Montes
  • Lena M Nilsson
  • Ingegerd Johansson
  • Elisabet Wirfält
  • Isabel Drake
  • Angela A Mulligan
  • Kay T Khaw
  • Dora Romaguera
  • Anne-Claire Vergnaud
  • Tim Key
  • Elio Riboli

OBJECTIVE: Health-beneficial effects of adhering to a healthy Nordic diet index have been suggested. However, it has not been examined to what extent the included dietary components are exclusively related to the Nordic countries or if they are part of other European diets as well, suggesting a broader preventive potential. The present study describes the intake of seven a priori defined healthy food items (apples/pears, berries, cabbages, dark bread, shellfish, fish and root vegetables) across ten countries participating in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) and examines their consumption across Europe.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. A 24 h dietary recall was administered through a software program containing country-specific recipes. Sex-specific mean food intake was calculated for each centre/country, as well as percentage of overall food groups consumed as healthy Nordic food items. All analyses were weighted by day and season of data collection.

SETTING: Multi-centre, European study.

SUBJECTS: Persons (n 36 970) aged 35-74 years, constituting a random sample of 519 978 EPIC participants.

RESULTS: The highest intakes of the included diet components were: cabbages and berries in Central Europe; apples/pears in Southern Europe; dark bread in Norway, Denmark and Greece; fish in Southern and Northern countries; shellfish in Spain; and root vegetables in Northern and Central Europe. Large inter-centre variation, however, existed in some countries.

CONCLUSIONS: Dark bread, root vegetables and fish are strongly related to a Nordic dietary tradition. Apples/pears, berries, cabbages, fish, shellfish and root vegetables are broadly consumed in Europe, and may thus be included in regional public health campaigns.

Original languageEnglish
JournalPublic Health Nutrition
Volume17
Issue number12
Pages (from-to)2650-2659
Number of pages10
ISSN1368-9800
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2014

ID: 137613339