Fruit and vegetable consumption over a decade among adolescents in the state of Santa Catarina, Brazil

Abstract

Understanding the changes in the trends of fruit and vegetable consumption among adolescents is important in order to implement public health actions. The scope of this article is to investigate the changes over a ten-year period in the daily fruit and vegetable consumption among adolescents from Santa Catarina, according to sex, age and housing area. It is a secondary analysis of a panel survey entitled “Lifestyle and Risk Behavior of Adolescents in the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil (ComPAC).” Adolescents (15-19 years of age) of state schools in 2001 (n=5.028) and 2011 (n=6.529) answered a questionnaire about fruit and vegetable consumption as well as about sociodemographic aspects. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were applied, according to sex, age and housing area. There was a decrease in daily fruit (39.1% and 16.6%) and vegetable (40.1% and 20.6%) consumption. Different prevalence levels were observed when analyzing subgroups, mainly among girls. From 2001 to 2011, daily vegetable consumption among boys and adolescents in rural areas remained the same. The decrease in daily consumption of fruit and vegetables among adolescents aged 15 to 19 in Santa Catarina highlights the need for the development of strategies to reverse this scenario.