Factors Influencing Fruits and Vegetable Consumption among Pregnant Women: Evidence from Enugu State, Nigeria

Abstract

Despite fruits and vegetables' importance and nutrient composition, their consumption is still below the world's recommended threshold in Nigeria, even among pregnant women. Therefore, this study examined pregnant women's critical socioeconomic and demographic factors associated with fruit and vegetable consumption. Multistage sampling techniques and a semi-structured questionnaire were employed to collect data from 100 pregnant women from the study area. The descriptive statistics show that the majority (91%) of the respondents belong to the age bracket of 20 to 36 years. Also, most (56%) of the respondents were in their third trimester, while 30% and 14% were in the second and first-trimester, respectively. The study employed descriptive and inferential statistics to analyse the data. The results indicate that Education, Trading, first-trimester, income, and nutrition advice positively influenced expenditure on fruits and vegetables. On the other hand, age, second-trimester, third-trimester, attending ante-natal, and distance from home to market have an inverse relationship with expenditure on fruits and vegetables. Likewise, education, nutrition advice, trading, first-trimester positively influence the frequency of fruits and vegetable consumption. The study recommended that policymakers, government, and NGOs should be focused on the significant socioeconomic factors to encourage fruit and vegetable consumption among pregnant women.