Consumption of fruits and vegetables among school education of Bragança (ESEB) students

Abstract

Epidemiological evidence suggests that regular consumption of fruit and vegetables is associated with lower risks of certain types of cancer, and a lower risk of heart disease. The national guidelines, in many countries, recommend people of all ages to consume at least five servings of fruit and vegetables per day. However in European countries, large proportions of the population have a low consumption compared with these recommendations. In this regard, we aimed to evaluate the consumption of fruits and vegetables among Education School of Bragança (ESEB) students. Methods: Descriptive observational study, community-based, with data collection through a survey and objective measurements between February and April 2011. The target population included 1126 students (68.2% female) studying in the ESEB 2010/2011, where a sample of 282 students (67.7% of females) was randomly selected, representative of the ESEB. Students that were evaluated had a mean (sd) age of 20.6 (1.7) years and the mean (sd) BMI of 23.5 (3.6) kg/m2. Data on social and demographic characteristics, food and beverages intake and objective measurements (weight, height and body composition), were collected. Fruit and vegetable consumption was assessed using the 1-year (past) semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ), developed and validated for Portuguese adults. The frequency consumption of fruit and vegetable was clustered into two classes (class I: never or <1 per month to 2-4 times per week; class II: 5-6 times per week to more than 6 per day). Results: Taking into account the classes divisions, the frequency consumption of vegetables in soup or on the plate were higher in class I compared with class II (69.5% vs. 30.5% and 63.8% vs. 36.2%, respectively) and there weren’t any statistically significant differences between the two genders. In both genders, the frequency consumption of fruit was more elevated in class II than class I (57.4% vs 42.6%). Conclusion: Almost half of the students that were assessed, frequency consumption of fruits and vegetables were lower than the daily recommendations, highlighting these young adults for specific intervention on the dietary intake in order to adjust this important risk factor to the concept of “healthy eating”.