Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009 Mar;109(3):474-8.
doi: 10.1016/j.jada.2008.11.022.

Correlates of fruit and vegetable intakes in US children

Barbara A Lorson  1 , Hugo R Melgar-Quinonez, Christopher A Taylor
Affiliations

Correlates of fruit and vegetable intakes in US children

Barbara A Lorson et al. J Am Diet Assoc. 2009 Mar.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess the quality of the current intakes of fruits and vegetables compared to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans in US children and adolescents and identify factors related to low fruit and vegetable intake. This descriptive study examined differences in fruit and vegetable intakes by age, sex, ethnicity, poverty level, body mass index, and food security status utilizing data from the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Six thousand five hundred thirteen children and adolescents ages 2 to 18 years, who were respondents to the 1999-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Mean fruit and vegetable intakes were computed using 24-hour recalls for individuals and compared using analysis of variance. Leading contributors to fruit and vegetable intake were identified using frequency analysis. Children aged 2 to 5 years had significantly higher total fruit and juice intakes than 6- to 11- and 12- to 18-year-olds. Total vegetable and french fry intake was significantly higher among 12- to 18-year-old adolescents. Regarding sex differences, boys consumed significantly more fruit juice and french fries than girls. In addition, non-Hispanic African-American children and adolescents consumed significantly more dark-green vegetables and fewer mean deep-yellow vegetables than Mexican-American and non-Hispanic white children and adolescents. Total fruit consumption also differed significantly among race/ethnicities and household income. Children and adolescents most at risk for higher intakes of energy-dense fruits and vegetables (fruit juice and french fries) were generally boys, and adolescents, at risk for overweight or overweight and living in households below 350% of the poverty level.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

MeSH terms