Socio-economic inequalities in the consumption of fruits and vegetables in Peru between 2014 and 2019

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the prevalence and socio-economic inequalities in adequate consumption of fruits and vegetables in Peru between 2014 and 2019. Design: Analytical cross-sectional study. The outcome variable was adequate consumption of fruits and vegetables, defined as the consumption of five or more servings of fruits and vegetables per d (yes/no). We used concentration curves and Erreygers concentration index to describe socio-economic inequalities and a microeconometric approach to determine the contribution of each variable to inequality. Setting: Peru. Participants: Data from Peruvians aged 18 years or older collected by the Demographic and Family Health Survey. Results: The prevalence of adequate fruit and vegetable consumption did not change between 2014 (10.7 %; 95 % CI (10.0, 11.4)) and 2019 (11 %; 95 % CI (10.4, 11.7)). We found socio-economic inequalities in the adequate consumption of fruits and vegetables, with wealthier individuals having a higher prevalence of adequate consumption compared to poorer individuals in 2014 (19.2 % v. 3.5 %) and 2019 (18.6 % v. 4.7 %). The decomposition analysis found that education, urban areas and being wealthy were the main factors associated with socio-economic inequality in adequate fruit and vegetable consumption, being structural problems of society. Conclusion: Despite the current regulations on healthy eating in Peru, adequate consumption of fruits and vegetables remains low, and there are socio-economic inequalities between the poorest and wealthiest individuals. Our findings suggest that more efforts are needed to increase the intake and assess the disparities in adequate fruit and vegetable consumption.