Heterogeneity of nutritional habits of Lithuanian ethnolinguistic groups: population-based study

• Main Authors: Audronė Jakaitienė, Donatas Austys, Neringa Burokienė, Vytautas Kasiulevičius, Rimantas Stukas, Vaidutis Kučinskas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Vilnius University Press 2016-07-01
• Series: Acta Medica Lituanica
• Subjects: nutrition; life style; overweight; social determinants of health; Lithuanian population; public health
• Online Access: https://www.journals.vu.lt/AML/article/view/21438
• ISSN: 1392-0138; 2029-4174

Background. Lithuania is a  Northern European country consisting of two main ethnolinguistic groups: Samogitians and Highlanders. The objective of the  paper is to investigate differences in nutritional habits of 18–65-year-old Lithuanians living in different ethnolinguistic regions. Materials and methods. A representative, population-based, random sample of the  18–65-year-old ethnic Lithuanian population was interviewed from 17  December 2008 to 20  May 2013. Lithuanians living in their ethnolinguistic region for at least three generations were included (n = 1,133). We analysed responses to 12 questions about nutritional habits of respondents. For the univariate analysis, we applied the chi-squared test. For the clusterisation of the survey questions, we employed a multiple correspondence analysis (MCA). Results. Comparing Samogitians’ and Highlanders’ responses according to their gender, education, and place of residence, we observed more often significant differences (p