Patterns of food and nutrient intake in a suburb of Dublin with chronically high unemployment

The diet‐history (7 typical recent days) method was used to determine patterns of food and nutrient intake in 50 families, randomly selected from the electoral register of a socially disadvantaged Dublin suburb. Some 66% of income was from unearned social security or other payments. Financial assistance was sought from money lenders by 11 of the 50 families. There was little evidence to suggest that nutrient intakes among males or among children were inadequate. Women, because of a low energy intake and a below average intake of meat, had low intakes of iron (8.1 ±2.3 mg/d). Women also had low intakes of fibre and vitamin C (14 ± 5 and 45 ± 18 mg/d, respectively). These low intakes of fibre and vitamin C among women relative to the RDAs were characterized by low intakes of fruits, vegetables, cereals and pulses. Single mothers (n –10) had the lowest intakes of iron, vitamin C or fibre although their incomes and food expenditures were average. The children of single‐parent families had identical intakes of nutrients to all other children. The estimated cost of the average energy intake of adolescent children (e.g. boys 11–18 years, IRE15‐10/week) well exceeded their social security payments.