Sociological explanation of food patterns in Tehran

In this study, the effect of social, cultural and economic capital of Tehran citizens on food pattern selection was investigated. By survey method and multi-stage cluster sampling, a researcher-made questionnaire was distributed among 384 residents over 15 years of age in Tehran. 66.6% of Tehran citizens have low cultural capital, 27.6% have medium cultural capital and also 5.7% have high cultural capital. 55.7% of the respondents have medium social capital, 28.9% have high social capital and 15.4% have low social capital. 60.2% of the respondents have low economic capital, 30.7% have medium economic capital and 9.1% have high economic capital. 54.4% are in the middle social class, 32.3% in the lower social class and 13.3% in the upper social class. Age, marriage and education are related to dietary choices and gender and occupation are not related to dietary choices. The results and model of structural equati ons also showed that social and economic capital and social class are effective on food pattern selection. Social, cultural and economic capital and social class are effective in choosing food patterns. Two dietary patterns were found, including 9 and 5 nutrients, respectively, as employee-youthful and traditional dietary patterns.