Association between tobacco consumption and alcohol, vegetable and fruit intake across urban and rural areas in Mozambique

Patrícia Padrão (1) , Carla Silva-Matos (2) , Albertino Damasceno (3) , Nuno Lunet (4)

1 Department of Hygiene and Epidemiology, University of Porto Medical School, Porto
2 Department of Non-Communicable Diseases, Mozambique Ministry of Health, Maputo
3 Faculté de Médecine [Université Eduardo Mondlane]
4 University of Porto Medical School

Background Smoking, alcohol consumption and unhealthy diet are known to cluster, but evidence from developing countries, at the early phases of the tobacco epidemics and with markedly different cultures, lifestyles and forms of tobacco use, is scarce. The objective of this study was to quantify the association between tobacco consumption (manufactured cigarettes, hand-rolled cigarettes and smokeless tobacco) and alcohol, fruit and vegetable intake, in Mozambique, according to place of residence (urban/rural). Methods A representative sample of 12 902 Mozambicans aged 25-64 years was evaluated in a national household survey conducted in 2003, using a structured questionnaire. Age- and education-adjusted odds ratios were computed to estimate the association between tobacco consumption and alcohol, fruit and vegetable intake. Results Tobacco use and overall alcohol drinking were positively associated, regardless of type of tobacco consumed, but smoking of hand-rolled cigarettes and consumption of smokeless tobacco was negatively associated with beer drinking. Manufactured cigarette smokers exhibited a less frequent intake of fruit, but smokeless tobacco consumption and hand-rolled cigarette smoking were not inversely related with fruit or vegetables intake. This pattern was relatively consistent across genders and urban/rural areas, with the observed differences likely to be explained either by random variation or heterogeneity in tobacco consumption patterns across genders or places of residence. Conclusion Strong associations between tobacco consumption and the intake of alcoholic beverages, vegetable and fruit intake, were found, but not consistently for all forms of tobacco use.

Mots clés: ALCOHOL RB; NUTRITION; SMOKING RB

Patrícia Padrão, Carla Silva-Matos, Albertino Damasceno, Nuno Lunet. Association between tobacco consumption and alcohol, vegetable and fruit intake across urban and rural areas in Mozambique. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2010, 65 (5), pp.445. ⟨10.1136/jech.2009.099440⟩. ⟨hal-00585765⟩