There is no doubt, as indicated by numerous studies, that a healthy diet based on fruit and vegetables, fish, and not many meat products, and its high quality are associated with the lower incidence of hypertension, cholesterol problems, coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and certain cancers as well as other health benefits. Since only educational level is a determinant which is significantly correlated with the unhealthy dietary behavior, promotion of a healthy diet among disadvantaged individuals should be focused on this factor.Ī healthy diet has considerable impact on our well-being and on our health.Ĭurrently, a lot of people have an ‘unhealthy’ diet and a low physical activity, which are the leading causes of major non-communicable chronic diseases in developed and developing countries across the world. The unhealthy dietary behavior prevalence among beneficiaries of government welfare assistance in Poland is much higher than in the general population. Higher odds of unhealthy dietary habits were reported among the respondents with primary, vocational, and secondary education than among the respondents with high education (for the primary education OR = 11.10 95% CI: 5.86–21.01 p ≤ 0.001 for vocational education OR = 10.54 95% CI: 5.79–19.18 p ≤ 0.001 and for secondary education OR = 5.83 95% CI: 3.48–9.79 p ≤ 0.001). Unhealthy dietary habits dominated in all the study group regardless of the subjects’ level of education ( p < 0.001). Only 3% of the beneficiaries had healthy dietary habits.

The studied sample consisted of 1710 respondents. The aim of the study was to examine the prevalence of a dietary behavior and to find out what the determinants of diet quality among the low socio-economic status population are. Diet, as a modifiable factor for good health maintenance, reduces the risk of numerous non-communicable chronic diseases and prevents premature death.

Poor dietary habits synonym