A comparison of dietary intakes of husbands and wives

Abstract

Dietary intake of spouses is generally assumed to be similar because of cohabitation. This study was designed to examine the similarities in husbands' and wives' dietary intake as a group and to investigate these similarities in relationship to the life stage of the family. A semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire was completed separately by 151 married couples who live in the same household. ANOVA, intraclass correlation and simple linear regression were applied to energy-adjusted nutrient consumption as well as to absolute nutrient consumption. Wives reported significantly different intakes of vitamin C, cholesterol and saturated fat than did husbands. There were no significant differences in nutrient intake between husbands and wives by life stage, except for iron intake. Generally poor to moderate husband-wife agreement of nutrient intakes was found. Intraclass correlation coefficients for all husbands and wives ranged from 0.01 for the absolute intakes of iron and cholesterol to 0.20 for vitamin C and 0.72 for vitamin A. Intraclass correlation coefficients for the energy-adjusted nutrient intake of all husbands and wives ranged from 0.04 for iron intake to 0.37 for dietary fiber and 0.38 for saturated fat intake. Simple linear regression of the husbands' intake (dependent) on the wives' intake (independent) was significantly different from zero for most energy-adjusted nutrients. However, this pattern was not consistent across the family life stages. These results suggest mean nutrient intakes of husbands and wives were more similar by life stage than overall mean intakes. Although correspondence between the husbands' and wives' dietary intake was moderate, the results suggest that one spouse's nutrient intake is not a particularly good indicator of the intake of the other. These results have important implications for interventions to change the dietary habits of family members.