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Fruit and vegetable consumption behavior in Ecuadorian workers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 November 2016

P. Mogrovejo*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Nutrición, Escuela de Salud Pública, Universidad San Francisco de Quito, Quito, Ecuador
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Abstract

Type
Abstract
Copyright
Copyright © The Author 2016 

Low fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption is linked with poor health and increase risk of non communicable diseases (NCD) such as: type 2 diabetes, ischemic heart disease and stroke. An estimated 6·7 million deaths worldwide were attributed to insufficient fruit and vegetable consumption in 2010(Reference Lim, Vos, Flaxman, Danaei, Shibuya and Adair-Rohani1). NCD (diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, stroke and cancer) are main causes of death in Ecuadorian adults. The average F&V consumption in Ecuadorian population does not accomplish with the World Health Organization (WHO) F&V consumption recommendation of 400 g/day(Reference Freire, Ramírez, Belmont, Mendieta, Silva, Romero, Sáenz, Piñeiros, Gómez and Monge2). Low F&V consumption prevalence and F&V consumption behavior are unknown in Ecuadorian workers.

The purpose of this study is twofold: to determine the prevalence of low F&V consumption and to stablish the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI), age, sex and education with F&V consumption Stage of Change (SOC) in Ecuadorian workers in 2006.

In order to address the above aims, a medical story with the following information was collected in 917 private employees (663men and 254 women) with 18–64 years: 1. Sociodemographic information; 2. BMI; 3. F&V consumption SOC behaviors were measured according to the Trans Theoretical Model; 4. Descriptive statistics, chi- squared test and factorial analysis of multiple correspondences were used.

Low F&V consumption prevalence was 87·9 %. The 12 % of subjects who accomplish WHO F&V consumption recommendation of 400 g/day ate daily an average of 2·1 fruit and 1·3 vegetable portions. The 83 % of subjects who accomplished WHO F&V consumption recommendation were classified in SOC maintenance. Whereas, the majority of subjects who did not accomplished WHO F&V intake recommendations were classified in low F&V SOC (pre contemplation and contemplation). Women ate more F&V than men. The F&V consumption was higher in subjects with high education levels. Similar findings were reported by WHO and Bandoni R.(3,Reference Bandoni, De Moura, Lobo and Constante4). The F&V consumption was not associated with BMI.

High prevalence of low F&V intake was found in this study. The F&V consumption SOC were associated with F&V consumption. Research findings were used for designing and implementing a life style promotion program at workplace under research, which included counselling for increasing F&V consumption.

References

1.Lim, SS, Vos, T, Flaxman, AD, Danaei, G, Shibuya, K, Adair-Rohani, HA et al. (2012). A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990–2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet 380(9859):2224–60.10.1016/S0140-6736(12)61766-8Google Scholar
2.Freire, W.B., Ramírez, MJ., Belmont, P., Mendieta, MJ., Silva, MK., Romero, N., Sáenz, K., Piñeiros, P., Gómez, LF., Monge, R. (2013). Resumen Ejecutivo. Tomo I. Encuesta Nacional de Salud y Nutrición del Ecuador. ENSANUT-ECU 2011–2013 Ministerio de Salud Pública/Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Censos. Quito, Ecuador.Google Scholar
3.World Health Organization (2014). Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption to reduce the risk of noncommunicable diseases.Google Scholar
4.Bandoni, D., De Moura, K., Lobo, D., Constante, P., (2010). The influence of the availability of fruits and vegetables in the workplace on the consumption of workers. Nutrition & Food Science 40(1), pp.2025.10.1108/00346651011015872Google Scholar