Prevalence of Dietary Behavior and Determinants of Quality of Diet among Beneficiaries of Government Welfare Assistance in Poland

Diet, as a modifiable factor for good health maintenance, reduces the risk of numerous non-communicable chronic diseases and prevents premature death. 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. The studied sample consisted of 1710 respondents. Only 3% of the beneficiaries had healthy dietary habits. Unhealthy dietary habits dominated in all the study group regardless of the subjects’ level of education (p < 0.001). 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). The unhealthy dietary behavior prevalence among beneficiaries of government welfare assistance in Poland is much higher than in the general population. 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.