Social Class and Changes in Health-Related Habits in Finland in 1973–1983

The aim of this project was to study social class differences with respect to various health-related habits and especially to note the changes in these habits after a 10-year follow-up period. From this study conclusions can be drawn as to whether health education efforts and increased interest in personal health has been more widely adopted by the more educated groups than the less educated groups, whose morbidity and mortality rates are higher. The sample consisted of 902 white-collar and blue-collar workers. Smoking was found to be more common among blue-collar workers in both years. Smoking rates had declined in all groups except female blue-collar workers. Occasions of drinking were more frequent among white-collar than blue-collar workers. However, heavier forms of drinking were more common in male blue-collar than white-collar groups, while the opposite was true among women. Dietary habits in white-collar groups were closer to the “official” recommendations than in the respective blue-collar groups in both years. White-collar men were physically more active at the time of the first investigation, and even more so ten years later. Among women, social class differences were in the same direction, but less marked.

In conclusion, in the early 1970s the health-related habits examined were, in most instances, less favourable among blue-collar than white-collar workers. No consistent pattern of change in these habits was observed in the 10-year follow-up. At the end of the follow-up, many of the “inequalities” still persisted.