Socioeconomic differences in fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption are recognized, but little is known about how these differences develop when moving from mid-life to older adulthood. We investigated the longitudinal changes in socioeconomic differences in F&V consumption in an ageing Finnish cohort, using occupational class as a measure of socioeconomic position. Additionally, we examined whether socioeconomic differences in F&V consumption changed over retirement transition.

An observational longitudinal cohort study with a 15–17-year follow-up.

The survey data used in this study were collected in four phases: 2000-02, 2007, 2012 and 2017. We included 2719 women who were 40–60-year-old in Phase 1. All participants transitioned to statutory retirement during the follow-up.

F&V consumption was measured in each phase as a part of a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and determined by the number of F&V consumption times per 4 weeks. We used linear mixed modeling for the analyses, and used age, marital status, education, income and BMI as covariates.

We found marked differences between occupational classes in F&V consumption. Semi-professionals used F&V most often and manual workers least often. In Phase 1, semi-professionals had 14.5 consumption times more per 4 weeks than manual workers, which is equivalent to ca. 0.5 daily consumption times. Differences between occupational classes showed a transient decrease in the beginning of the follow-up, followed by an increasing trend towards the last study phase. However, these changes were modest and overall differences between occupational classes changed only little over the follow-up period. Retirement did not markedly contribute to occupational class differences in F&V consumption.

Our findings suggest that the socioeconomic differences in F&V consumption seen in mid-life persist in older adulthood and over retirement transition. The results imply that means to reduce socioeconomic differences in F&V use should be actively sought to support healthy ageing and reduce socioeconomic health differences in ageing populations. Workplace could be a fruitful ground for targeting these interventions.