Perceived Food Environment Predicts Vegetable Intake According to Income: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Global health policies are promoting increased vegetable intake across all socioeconomic levels. However, the association between healthy vegetable intake and perception of the food environment has not been well investigated. Consequently, this study aimed to examine the association between vegetable intake and perceptions of neighborhood food environments. Participants were 3,137 Japanese adults (1,580 men, 1,557 women), aged 30 to 59 years, who completed an Internet-based survey. Self-report data were collected: vegetable intake, perceptions of food environment, household income, and demographic variables. We found that positive perceptions of the food environment (e.g., reasonable prices for foods and good social capital of food) predicted healthy vegetable intake in all household income groups. Therefore, supporters should take note of perceptions of the food environments—the findings suggest that the food environment can be altered via changing perceptions surrounding costs.