IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v100y2014icp167-175.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social relationships and healthful dietary behaviour: Evidence from over-50s in the EPIC cohort, UK

Author

Listed:
  • Conklin, Annalijn I.
  • Forouhi, Nita G.
  • Surtees, Paul
  • Khaw, Kay-Tee
  • Wareham, Nicholas J.
  • Monsivais, Pablo

Abstract

Social relationships are an important aspect of a person's social environment that can protect against a wide range of chronic conditions and facilitate recovery from disease. Social relationships have also been linked to dietary behaviour which may be an important pathway through which social circumstances exert their influence on health. Yet, questions remain about which structural aspects of social relationships most affect healthful dietary behaviours and whether different structural components interact to produce a combined effect. Using data from adults (≥50 years) in the European Prospective Investigation of Cancer-Norfolk study (1996–2002), we examined marital status, living arrangement and social isolation in relation to scores for variety of fruit and vegetable intake as a marker of diet quality associated with adverse health outcomes. Data were analysed with multivariable linear regression models for gender-specific and interaction associations. We found that being single or widowed was associated with a lower variety score, particularly vegetable variety, and associations were enhanced when combined with male gender, living alone or infrequent friend contact. Lower variety scores for lone-living were also observed, especially for men. Infrequent friend contact interacted with living arrangement to amplify negative associations of lone-living with variety, with statistically significant differences in contact frequency for vegetable variety. Lower levels of friend contact were associated with reduced variety of fruits and vegetables in a graded trend for both genders; the trend was more pronounced among men. Family contact appeared to have limited association with vegetable variety in men; among women, weekly contact was significantly and positively associated with vegetable variety compared to daily family contact. Results highlight the importance of considering living arrangement and/or frequency of social contact when assessing whether widowed, single or lone-living older adults are at risk of lower fruit and vegetable variety.

Suggested Citation

  • Conklin, Annalijn I. & Forouhi, Nita G. & Surtees, Paul & Khaw, Kay-Tee & Wareham, Nicholas J. & Monsivais, Pablo, 2014. "Social relationships and healthful dietary behaviour: Evidence from over-50s in the EPIC cohort, UK," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 167-175.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:100:y:2014:i:c:p:167-175
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.08.018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S027795361300470X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2013.08.018?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chuang, Ying-Chih & Chuang, Kun-Yang, 2008. "Gender differences in relationships between social capital and individual smoking and drinking behavior in Taiwan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(8), pages 1321-1330, October.
    2. Uchino, Bert N. & Bowen, Kimberly & Carlisle, McKenzie & Birmingham, Wendy, 2012. "Psychological pathways linking social support to health outcomes: A visit with the “ghosts” of research past, present, and future," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(7), pages 949-957.
    3. Surtees, Paul G. & Wainwright, Nicholas W.J., 2007. "The shackles of misfortune: Social adversity assessment and representation in a chronic-disease epidemiological setting," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 95-111, January.
    4. Schafer, Robert B. & Schafer, Elisabeth & Dunbar, Martin & Keith, Patricia M., 1999. "Marital food interaction and dietary behavior," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 48(6), pages 787-796, March.
    5. Berkman, Lisa F. & Glass, Thomas & Brissette, Ian & Seeman, Teresa E., 2000. "From social integration to health: Durkheim in the new millennium," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 843-857, September.
    6. Shye, Diana & Mullooly, John P. & Freeborn, Donald K. & Pope, Clyde R., 1995. "Gender differences in the relationship between social network support and mortality: A longitudinal study of an elderly cohort," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 41(7), pages 935-947, October.
    7. Julianne Holt-Lunstad & Timothy B Smith & J Bradley Layton, 2010. "Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(7), pages 1-1, July.
    8. Fuhrer, R. & Stansfeld, S. A. & Chemali, J. & Shipley, M. J., 1999. "Gender, social relations and mental health: prospective findings from an occupational cohort (Whitehall II study)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 77-87, January.
    9. Pachucki, M.A. & Jacques, P.F. & Christakis, N.A., 2011. "Social network concordance in food choice among spouses, friends, and siblings," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 101(11), pages 2170-2177.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Chang, Qingsong & Chan, Chee Hon & Yip, Paul S.F., 2017. "A meta-analytic review on social relationships and suicidal ideation among older adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 191(C), pages 65-76.
    2. Vonneilich, Nico & Lüdecke, Daniel & von dem Knesebeck, Olaf, 2020. "Educational inequalities in self-rated health and social relationships – analyses based on the European Social Survey 2002-2016," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    3. Verena Rossa-Roccor & Chris G Richardson & Rachel A Murphy & Anne M Gadermann, 2021. "The association between diet and mental health and wellbeing in young adults within a biopsychosocial framework," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(6), pages 1-19, June.
    4. Shand, Calum & Crozier, Sarah & Vassilev, Ivaylo & Penn-Newman, Daniel & Dhuria, Preeti & Cooper, Cyrus & Rogers, Anne & Baird, Janis & Vogel, Christina, 2021. "Resources in women's social networks for food shopping are more strongly associated with better dietary quality than people: A cross-sectional study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    5. Vinther, Johan L. & Conklin, Annalijn I. & Wareham, Nicholas J. & Monsivais, Pablo, 2016. "Marital transitions and associated changes in fruit and vegetable intake: Findings from the population-based prospective EPIC-Norfolk cohort, UK," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 120-126.
    6. Antoneta Granic & Karen Davies & Ashley Adamson & Thomas Kirkwood & Tom R Hill & Mario Siervo & John C Mathers & Carol Jagger, 2015. "Dietary Patterns and Socioeconomic Status in the Very Old: The Newcastle 85+ Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(10), pages 1-16, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shor, Eran & Roelfs, David J., 2015. "Social contact frequency and all-cause mortality: A meta-analysis and meta-regression," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 76-86.
    2. Schwaninger, Philipp & Berli, Corina & Lüscher, Janina & Scholz, Urte, 2021. "Cultivation or enabling? Day-to-day associations between self-efficacy and received support in couples," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).
    3. Stein, Elizabeth R. & Smith, Bruce W., 2015. "Social support attenuates the harmful effects of stress in healthy adult women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 129-136.
    4. Rosenberg, Rachel, 2019. "Social networks of youth transitioning from foster care to adulthood," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    5. Sarah Gibney & Mark E. McGovern & Erika Sabbath, 2013. "Social Relationships in Later Life: The Role of Childhood Circumstances," Working Papers 201319, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    6. Heather Booth & Pilar Rioseco & Heather Crawford, 2014. "What can reverse causation tell us about demographic differences in the social network and social support determinants of self-rated health in later life?," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 12(1), pages 23-52.
    7. Gale, Nicola K. & Kenyon, Sara & MacArthur, Christine & Jolly, Kate & Hope, Lucy, 2018. "Synthetic social support: Theorizing lay health worker interventions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 96-105.
    8. David Matthew Doyle & Tom O. G. Lewis & Manuela Barreto, 2023. "A systematic review of psychosocial functioning changes after gender-affirming hormone therapy among transgender people," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(8), pages 1320-1331, August.
    9. Qingsong Chang & Feng Sha & Chee Hon Chan & Paul S F Yip, 2018. "Validation of an abbreviated version of the Lubben Social Network Scale (“LSNS-6”) and its associations with suicidality among older adults in China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(8), pages 1-11, August.
    10. Natasja Schutter & Tjalling J. Holwerda & Hannie C. Comijs & Max L. Stek & Jaap Peen & Jack J. M. Dekker, 2022. "Loneliness, social network size and mortality in older adults: a meta-analysis," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1057-1076, December.
    11. Fiorillo Damiano & Sabatini Fabio, 2011. "Quality and quantity: The role of social interactions in individual health," wp.comunite 0073, Department of Communication, University of Teramo.
    12. Ferlander, Sara & Mäkinen, Ilkka Henrik, 2009. "Social capital, gender and self-rated health. Evidence from the Moscow Health Survey 2004," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(9), pages 1323-1332, November.
    13. Ellwardt, Lea & Aartsen, Marja & Deeg, Dorly & Steverink, Nardi, 2013. "Does loneliness mediate the relation between social support and cognitive functioning in later life?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 116-124.
    14. Seongryu Bae & Kenji Harada & Ippei Chiba & Keitaro Makino & Osamu Katayama & Sangyoon Lee & Yohei Shinkai & Hiroyuki Shimada, 2020. "A New Social Network Scale for Detecting Depressive Symptoms in Older Japanese Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-13, November.
    15. Alison Dias & Nicholas Geard & Patricia Therese Campbell & Deborah Warr & Jodie McVernon, 2018. "Quantity or quality? Assessing relationships between perceived social connectedness and recorded encounters," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(11), pages 1-11, November.
    16. Rafael del-Pino-Casado & Antonio Frías-Osuna & Pedro A Palomino-Moral & María Ruzafa-Martínez & Antonio J Ramos-Morcillo, 2018. "Social support and subjective burden in caregivers of adults and older adults: A meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(1), pages 1-18, January.
    17. Ingrida Grigaityte & Karin Osterman & Kaj Bjorkqvist, 2020. "Social Integration and Psychological Wellbeing in a Sample of the Swedish-speaking Minority of Western Finland," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 9(1), pages 364-376, July.
    18. Haslam, S. Alexander & McMahon, Charlotte & Cruwys, Tegan & Haslam, Catherine & Jetten, Jolanda & Steffens, Niklas K., 2018. "Social cure, what social cure? The propensity to underestimate the importance of social factors for health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 14-21.
    19. Jianye Liu & Roderic Beaujot & Zenaida Ravanera, 2018. "Measuring the Effects of Stress and Social Networks on the Health of Canadians," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 13(4), pages 891-908, December.
    20. Andrea Fleisch Marcus & Alex H Illescas & Bernadette C Hohl & Adana A M Llanos, 2017. "Relationships between social isolation, neighborhood poverty, and cancer mortality in a population-based study of US adults," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(3), pages 1-13, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:100:y:2014:i:c:p:167-175. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.