Adolescent students' consumption of fruit, greens and vegetables

Abstract

Introduction: The intake of fruits, vegetables and greens is in accordance with the recommendations in a minority of the population, especially in adolescents, as it has been shown in literature. The importance to increase this food consumption regards to the prevention of non-transmissible chronic diseases. Objective: was to estimate and describe the frequency of fruit/juice and vegetable intake, and assess the adequacy of this consumption based on the recommendations of the "Ten steps to healthy eating", in adolescents in Curitiba, Brazil. Methods: The food intake frequency was categorized as adequate or inadequate. The relationship between the intake and the independent variables (socioeconomic) was verified by simple and multiple logistic regressions. Results: The participants were 341 adolescents, most female and aged between 10 - 12 years. The most frequent maternal educational level was High School, most of them working outside home. Monthly family incomes up to 3 minimum wages were most frequent. Most adolescents had inadequate intake of fruits/juices and greens/ vegetables, with higher inadequacy for the latter. Only 3.5% of them had adequate intake of both groups of food. Conclusions: The intake of fruit/juice was not associated with any of the analyzed variables. It was found association of inadequate intake of greens/vegetables only for the age range of 14-19 years, which remained after multiple regression.