[Consumption of fruits and vegetables in the public school in southern Brazil]

Abstract

Consumption of fruits and vegetables in the public school in southern Brazil. Cross-sectional study was conducted with 356 schoolchildren from public city of Pelotas, southern Brazil. The objective was to describe the frequency of consumption of fruits and vegetables and its association with sociodemographic and nutritional status. Variables were collected on gender, age and maternal education. The classification of socioeconomic status was according to the Brazilian Association of Research and nutritional status according to Body Mass Index (Ministry of Health of Brazil). For the evaluation of the consumption of fruits and vegetables Consumption Labels Form of the National Nutritional Surveillance was used. The categorization of frequency of consumption was defined when and how often fruits and vegetables were consumed at least five of the seven days preceding the interview. We used the chi-square test for heterogeneity and linear trend to detect statistically significant differences. Prevalence of frequent use were 42.1% (CI 95% 36.9 to 47.3) for fruits and 20.1% (CI 95% 16.0 to 24.4) for vegetables. High consumption of fruit was associated with lower age of the students (p=0.022), and linear trend directly with socioeconomic status and maternal education (p < 0.001). High consumption of vegetables was associated with maternal education (p < 0.001). There was no association between consumption of these foods with gender and nutritional status. The results show low percentages of frequent consumption of fruits and vegetables, pointing to the need for actions aimed at primary schools in an attempt to stimulate consumption.