Cultural Differences in Diet and Determinants of Diet Quality in Switzerland: Results from the National Nutrition Survey menuCH

Sociodemographic differences in dietary consumption were observed in different
populations. The current study aimed to identify sociodemographic and lifestyle determinants
of diet quality and to investigate the differences in diet quality between the three main language
regions of Switzerland. Using data of the Swiss National Nutrition Survey menuCH (n = 2057),
two diet quality scores—Alternate Healthy Eating Index and Mediterranean Diet Score—were
computed. Linear regression models were used to investigate the determinants of diet quality
and chi-square tests were used to test for differences in single score components between language
regions. Significantly higher diet quality scores were observed for individuals who were female,
older, normal weight, non-Swiss, with tertiary education or moderate-to-high physical activity level.
Additionally, residents of the French- and Italian-speaking parts of Switzerland scored higher than
residents of the German-speaking region. More specifically, the higher diet quality observed in the
French- and Italian-speaking regions was mediated by higher scores in the components of alcohol,
dairy products, fat, fish, sugar-sweetened beverages and whole grains. The present results may help
to better characterize population groups requiring specific dietary recommendations, enabling public
health authorities to develop targeted interventions.

Keywords: dietary patterns; diet quality scores; 24h dietary recall; language regions