OBJECTIVE: To describe the food habits of Swedish adolescents 14-15 y of age. To analyse the connection between food habits and socioeconomic circumstances and background factors.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey using a Food Frequency Questionnaire including questions on meal patterns.

SETTING: The city of Göteborg and the County of Alvsborg, Sweden 1996.

SUBJECTS: Pupils in the 8th grade in all schools in the city of Göteborg and the County of Alvsborg were in February 1996 invited to participate. The study comprised 7605 pupils. The drop-out rate was 14.4% (n = 1280).

RESULTS: The adolescents had an infrequent consumption of vegetables and fruits and they had a daily consumption of sweets. Cereals, dairy products and snacks: buns, wafers, soft drinks, ice cream and potato crisps were consumed more than once a day. Thirty percent of the girls and 20% of the boys did not eat breakfast every day. The free school lunch was eaten daily by 50% of the boys and 30% of the girls, the remainder ate some type of snack. A negative correlation was found between smoking and the frequency of vegetable consumption. Pupils from areas with high socioeconomic status more often ate breakfast and lunch and the boys more often ate dinner compared to adolescents from areas with low socioeconomic status.

CONCLUSIONS: An irregular meal pattern as well as snack consumption and smoking were common, especially among girls in areas with low socioeconomic status.