Temporal Trends in Inadequate Vegetable and Fruit Consumption Among Adolescents Aged 12–15 Years From 31 Countries in Asia, Africa, and the Americas

ABSTRACT Background and Aims A low intake of fruit and vegetable consumption has been found to be associated with a plethora of negative health outcomes in adolescents. However, there is a scarcity of literature on long‐term trends in fruit and vegetable intake in the adolescent population. Therefor...

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Main Authors: Lee Smith, Guillermo F. López Sánchez, Mark A. Tully, Yvonne Barnett, Laurie Butler, Helen Keyes, Louis Jacob, Karel Kostev, Hans Oh, Masoud Rahmati, Jae Il Shin, Ai Koyanagi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-04-01
Series:Health Science Reports
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.70711
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author Lee Smith
Guillermo F. López Sánchez
Mark A. Tully
Yvonne Barnett
Laurie Butler
Helen Keyes
Louis Jacob
Karel Kostev
Hans Oh
Masoud Rahmati
Jae Il Shin
Ai Koyanagi
author_facet Lee Smith
Guillermo F. López Sánchez
Mark A. Tully
Yvonne Barnett
Laurie Butler
Helen Keyes
Louis Jacob
Karel Kostev
Hans Oh
Masoud Rahmati
Jae Il Shin
Ai Koyanagi
author_sort Lee Smith
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT Background and Aims A low intake of fruit and vegetable consumption has been found to be associated with a plethora of negative health outcomes in adolescents. However, there is a scarcity of literature on long‐term trends in fruit and vegetable intake in the adolescent population. Therefore, we examined this trend in a nationally representative sample of adolescents (12–15 years) attending school in 31 countries, including Africa, Asia, and the Americas, where investigation of such trends has been scarce. Methods The present study analyzed data from the Global School‐based Student Health Survey 2003–2017. The prevalence (95% CI) of inadequate fruit and vegetable intake (i.e., consumption < 5 times/day) was calculated for each survey, and crude linear trends were examined by linear regression models for each country. Results We analyzed data from students (n = 193,388) aged 12–15 years [mean (SD) age 13.7 (1.0) years; 49.0% boys]. A high overall prevalence of inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption was found (75%). We observed increasing, decreasing, and stable trends in 6, 3, and 22 countries, respectively. In countries where decreasing trends were found, this decrease was minimal. Moreover, the majority of countries with stable trends exhibited a high prevalence of inadequate fruit and vegetable intake across multiple years. Conclusion Our data show that inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption among adolescents is a major global problem with almost no improvements being observed in recent years. Intensification of global efforts to combat inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption is necessary.
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spelling doaj-art-98efebf467bf4d8c8f65264b53fd8a172025-08-20T03:11:58ZengWileyHealth Science Reports2398-88352025-04-0184n/an/a10.1002/hsr2.70711Temporal Trends in Inadequate Vegetable and Fruit Consumption Among Adolescents Aged 12–15 Years From 31 Countries in Asia, Africa, and the AmericasLee Smith0Guillermo F. López Sánchez1Mark A. Tully2Yvonne Barnett3Laurie Butler4Helen Keyes5Louis Jacob6Karel Kostev7Hans Oh8Masoud Rahmati9Jae Il Shin10Ai Koyanagi11Centre for Health Performance and Wellbeing Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge UKDepartment of Public Health Sciences, Division of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, School of Medicine University of Murcia Murcia SpainSchool of Medicine Ulster University Londonderry Northern Ireland UKCentre for Health Performance and Wellbeing Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge UKCentre for Health Performance and Wellbeing Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge UKSchool of Psychology, Sport and Sensory Sciences Anglia Ruskin University Cambridge UKResearch and Development Unit Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Dr. Antoni Pujadas, Sant Boi de Llobregat Barcelona SpainUniversity Clinic of Marburg Marburg GermanySuzanne Dworak Peck School of Social Work University of Southern California Los Angeles California USADepartment of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences Lorestan University Khoramabad IranDepartment of Pediatrics Yonsei University College of Medicine Seoul South KoreaResearch and Development Unit Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Dr. Antoni Pujadas, Sant Boi de Llobregat Barcelona SpainABSTRACT Background and Aims A low intake of fruit and vegetable consumption has been found to be associated with a plethora of negative health outcomes in adolescents. However, there is a scarcity of literature on long‐term trends in fruit and vegetable intake in the adolescent population. Therefore, we examined this trend in a nationally representative sample of adolescents (12–15 years) attending school in 31 countries, including Africa, Asia, and the Americas, where investigation of such trends has been scarce. Methods The present study analyzed data from the Global School‐based Student Health Survey 2003–2017. The prevalence (95% CI) of inadequate fruit and vegetable intake (i.e., consumption < 5 times/day) was calculated for each survey, and crude linear trends were examined by linear regression models for each country. Results We analyzed data from students (n = 193,388) aged 12–15 years [mean (SD) age 13.7 (1.0) years; 49.0% boys]. A high overall prevalence of inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption was found (75%). We observed increasing, decreasing, and stable trends in 6, 3, and 22 countries, respectively. In countries where decreasing trends were found, this decrease was minimal. Moreover, the majority of countries with stable trends exhibited a high prevalence of inadequate fruit and vegetable intake across multiple years. Conclusion Our data show that inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption among adolescents is a major global problem with almost no improvements being observed in recent years. Intensification of global efforts to combat inadequate fruit and vegetable consumption is necessary.https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.70711adolescentsepidemiologyfruit and vegetable consumptionmulticountrytemporal trends
spellingShingle Lee Smith
Guillermo F. López Sánchez
Mark A. Tully
Yvonne Barnett
Laurie Butler
Helen Keyes
Louis Jacob
Karel Kostev
Hans Oh
Masoud Rahmati
Jae Il Shin
Ai Koyanagi
Temporal Trends in Inadequate Vegetable and Fruit Consumption Among Adolescents Aged 12–15 Years From 31 Countries in Asia, Africa, and the Americas
Health Science Reports
adolescents
epidemiology
fruit and vegetable consumption
multicountry
temporal trends
title Temporal Trends in Inadequate Vegetable and Fruit Consumption Among Adolescents Aged 12–15 Years From 31 Countries in Asia, Africa, and the Americas
title_full Temporal Trends in Inadequate Vegetable and Fruit Consumption Among Adolescents Aged 12–15 Years From 31 Countries in Asia, Africa, and the Americas
title_fullStr Temporal Trends in Inadequate Vegetable and Fruit Consumption Among Adolescents Aged 12–15 Years From 31 Countries in Asia, Africa, and the Americas
title_full_unstemmed Temporal Trends in Inadequate Vegetable and Fruit Consumption Among Adolescents Aged 12–15 Years From 31 Countries in Asia, Africa, and the Americas
title_short Temporal Trends in Inadequate Vegetable and Fruit Consumption Among Adolescents Aged 12–15 Years From 31 Countries in Asia, Africa, and the Americas
title_sort temporal trends in inadequate vegetable and fruit consumption among adolescents aged 12 15 years from 31 countries in asia africa and the americas
topic adolescents
epidemiology
fruit and vegetable consumption
multicountry
temporal trends
url https://doi.org/10.1002/hsr2.70711
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