Determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption in primary schoolchildren

Peer-reviewed | Manuscript received: January 29, 2014 | Revision accepted: May 13, 2014

Introduction

Current data from the KiGGS and EsKiMo studies [1–3] show that most children in Germany eat less than the amount of fruit and vegetables, which are recommended by the Forschungsinstitut für Kinderernährung (FKE; Research Institute of Child Nutrition). In order to attain effective interventions in schools to increase fruit and vegetable consumption we must consider the basic conditions influencing the eating behaviour of children.

Nutritional behaviour in childhood

A variety of personal, social and environmental factors such as availability, influence the nutritional behaviour of children [4, 5]. ◆ Table 1 gives an overview of predictors of daily fruit and vegetable consumption.

Determinants that have a particularly significant influence upon fruit and vegetable intake are taste preferences, availability and accessibility at home and in the living environment, parental fruit and vegetable consumption (modelling), knowledge about the recommended amounts for intake, portion sizes and meal structure, in addition to demographic aspects, such as age, sex and socio-economic status [6–9].

Summary

As a rule, children of primary school age eat less fruit and vegetables than German scientific societies recommend. Not all strategies for increasing the fruit and vegetable consumption are successful. To develop and plan effective school interventions, it is necessary to know about essential determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption.
In order to identify such determinants, a survey of 1,376 children (mean age nine years) was conducted in primary and special education schools in Lower Saxony. The pupils and their parents were queried using a questionnaire. The actual intake was documented using the validated food frequency questionnaire «What does your child eat?» of the Robert-Koch-Institute.
The results show that children whose parents offer them fruit and vegetables daily and who take fruit and vegetables with them to school eat significantly more of these than children for whom these are not available. The short-term school intervention to improve the knowledge of children about the health benefits of a diet rich in fruit and vegetables did not result in increased consumption of these foods.
Consequently, we can conclude that the availability and accessibility of fruit and vegetables has a decisive influence on consumption. Interventions that bring about a more frequent offering of fruit and vegetables at home, in the breakfast box or at school appear promising.

Keywords: fruit, vegetables, consumption, nutritional knowledge, children, nutritional behaviour

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