College-Educated People Choose Healthier Dietary Habits

Children who are college educated are more likely to pick healthier food choices, according to recent findings published in the journal Public Health Nutrition.

After studying students from a Vancouver school, researchers found that kids whose parents completed some post-secondary education were up to 85 percent more likely to eat vegetables during the school week when compared to those with less educated parents.

Furthermore, findings revealed that those with parents who graduated from college were 67 percent less likely to drink sugary beverages.

"We can only speculate on the reasons for the disparities," said lead study author Jennifer Black, a food, nutrition and health professor in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems, in a news release. "Higher priced products, like vegetables, may not be the food that gets packed first for vulnerable families that need to make tough choices about school lunches."

However, researchers found that children of all socioeconomic statuses did not consume adequate amounts of low-fat milk or whole grains on school days. In fact, most children preferred foods high in sodium and saturated fats.

"Our findings challenge this common notion that only low-income families feed their kids junk food because it appears wealthy families are not always making healthier choices either," she concluded.