Hostname: page-component-76d6cb85b7-5qg8f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-07-12T11:53:01.343Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Consumption of whole-grain foods by British adults: findings from further analysis of two national dietary surveys

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2006

Rebecca Lang ,
Christopher W Thane ,
Caroline Bolton-Smith  and
Susan A Jebb
Rebecca Lang*
Affiliation:
MRC Human Nutrition Research, Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, Fulbourn Road, Cambridge CB1 9NL, UK
Christopher W Thane
Affiliation:
MRC Human Nutrition Research, Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, Fulbourn Road, Cambridge CB1 9NL, UK
Caroline Bolton-Smith
Affiliation:
MRC Human Nutrition Research, Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, Fulbourn Road, Cambridge CB1 9NL, UK
Susan A Jebb
Affiliation:
MRC Human Nutrition Research, Elsie Widdowson Laboratory, Fulbourn Road, Cambridge CB1 9NL, UK
*
*Corresponding author: Email beckie.lang@mrc-hnr.cam.ac.uk
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the 'Save PDF' action button.
Objective:

To assess the consumption of whole-grain foods in different age and sociodemographic groups in Great Britain, using data from two national surveys.

Design:

Cross-sectional analysis of the consumption of whole-grain foods.

Setting:

The 1986–87 Dietary and Nutritional Survey of British Adults and the 1994–95 National Diet and Nutrition Survey of people aged 65 years and over.

Subjects:

In 1986–87, 2086 British adults aged 16–64 years; 1189 British adults aged 65 years and over in 1994–95.

Results:

In the 1986–87 survey population, consumption of whole-grain foods increased with age. Median consumption of whole-grain foods was 1 serving per week in 16–24-year-olds and 3 servings per week in the 35–64-year-olds (P <0.0001). In 1994–95, median consumption was 5 servings per week in adults aged 65 years and over. Overall, one-third of British adults ate no whole-grain foods on a daily basis, and less than 5% ate 3 or more servings per day. Manual occupation and smoking were consistently associated with a higher proportion of non-consumers and fewer servings per week of whole-grain foods, independent of age, sex, region and season (each P < 0.001). The main sources of whole-grain foods were wholemeal bread and breakfast cereals, which accounted for more than three-quarters of all servings.

Conclusions:

Consumption of whole-grain foods in the adult UK populations is more prevalent in the non-smoking, higher socio-economic groups. Amongst consumers of whole-grain foods, the frequency is similar to that reported in the USA and Norway.

Keywords

Whole-grain foodsGreat BritainAdultsElderly

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 6 , Issue 5 , August 2003 , pp. 479 - 484
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2003

References

1Jacobs, DR Jr, Meyer, KA, Kushi, LH, Folsom, AR. Is whole grain intake associated with reduced total and cause-specific death rates in older women? The Iowa Women's Health Study. American Journal of Public Health 1999; 89: 322–29.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2Jacobs, DR Jr, Meyer, HE, Solvoll, K. Reduced mortality among whole grain bread eaters in men and women in the Norwegian County Study. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2001; 55: 137–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3Jacobs, DR Jr, Marquet, L, Slavin, J, Kushi, LH. Wholegrain intake and cancer: an expanded review and meta-analysis. Nutrition and Cancer 1998; 30: 85–96.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4Liu, S, Stampfer, HJ, Hu, FB, Giovannucci, E, Rimm, E, Manson, JE, et al. Whole grain consumption and risk of coronary heart disease: results from the Nurses' Health Study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1999; 70: 412–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Liu, S, Manson, JE, Stampfer, MJ, Rexrode, KM, Hu, FB, Rimm, EB, et al. Whole grain consumption and risk of ischaemic stroke in women: a prospective study. Journal of the American Medical Association 2000; 284: 1534–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6Meyer, KA, Kushi, LH, Jacobs, DR Jr, Slavin, JE, Sellers, TA, Folsom, AR. Carbohydrates, dietary fiber, and incident type 2 diabetes in older women. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2000; 71: 921–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Liu, S, Manson, JE, Stampfer, HJ, Hu, FB, Giovannucci, E, Colditz, GA, et al. A prospective study of whole grain intake and risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in US women. American Journal of Public Health 2000; 90: 1409–15.Google ScholarPubMed
8Slavin, J. Whole grains and health: separating the wheat from the chaff. Nutrition Today 1994; 29: 6–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9Albertson, A, Tobelman, R. Consumption of grain and whole grain foods by an American population during the years 1990–92. Journal of the American Dietetic Association 1995; 95: 703–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10Cleveland, LE, Moshfegh, AJ, Albertson, AM, Goldman, JD. Dietary intake of whole grains. Journal of the American College of Nutrition 2000; 19: 331S–8S.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11Gregory, J, Foster, K, Tyler, H, Wiseman, M. Dietary and Nutritional Survey of British Adults. London: HMSO, 1990.Google Scholar
12Finch, S, Doyle, W, Lowe, C, Bates, CJ, Prentice, A, Smithers, G, et al. National Diet and Nutrition Survey: people aged 65 years and over. Vol. 1. Report of the Diet and Nutrition Survey. London: The Stationery Office, 1998.Google Scholar
13Pape, SM, Kracov, DA, Spokes, JJ, Boggs, P. Whole grain foods authoritative statement claim notification. Submitted on behalf of General Mills, Inc. to the Food and Drug Administration, 1999.Google Scholar
14Schofield, WN, Schofield, C, James, WPT. Basal metabolic rate – review and prediction. Human Nutrition: Clinical Nutrition 1985; 39(Suppl.): 1–96.Google Scholar
15Goldberg, GR, Black, AE, Jebb, SA, Cole, TJ, Murgatroyd, PR, Coward, WA, et al. Critical evaluation of energy intake data using fundamental principles of energy physiology: 1. Derivation of cut-off limits to identify under-recording. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1991; 45: 569–81.Google Scholar
US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Healthy People 2010: Vol. I and II. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 2000.Google Scholar
17Adams, JF, Engstrom, A. Dietary intake of whole grain vs. recommendations. Cereal Foods Worldwide 2000; 45: 75–9.Google Scholar
18Prättälä, R, Helasoja, V, Mykkänen, H. The consumption of rye bread and white bread as dimensions of health lifestyles in Finland. Public Health Nutrition 2001; 4: 813–9.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
19Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals, 1994–96. NFS Report 96-2. Washington, DC: US Department of Agriculture, 1998.Google Scholar