Residential area deprivation predicts smoking habit independently of individual educational level and occupational social class. A cross sectional study in the Norfolk cohort of the European Investigation into Cancer (EPIC-Norfolk)

Study objective: To investigate the independent association between individual and area based socioeconomic measures and fruit and vegetable consumption.

Design: Cross sectional population based study.

Setting and participants: 22 562 men and women aged 39–79 years living in the general community in Norfolk, United Kingdom, recruited using general practice age-sex registers.

Outcome measures: Fruit and vegetable intake assessed using a food frequency questionnaire.

Main results: Being in a manual occupational social class, having no educational qualifications, and living in a deprived area all independently predicted significantly lower consumption of fruit and vegetables. The effect of residential area deprivation was predominantly in those in manual occupational social class and no educational qualifications.

Conclusions: Understanding some of the community level barriers to changing health related behaviours may lead to more effective interventions to improving health in the whole community, particularly those who are most vulnerable.