Prevalence and correlates of fruit and vegetable consumption among adolescents in Laos

Abstract

© 2020 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston 2020. The study aimed to estimate the prevalence and correlates of fruit and vegetable (FV) intake among adolescents in the "2015 Laos Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS)". The study sample consisted of 3,683 school adolescents with a median age of 16 years from Laos that responded to the 2015 cross-sectional GSHS. The prevalence of inadequate fruit consumption (<2/day) was 74.0%, inadequate vegetable consumption (<3/day) 78.5%, and inadequate FV consumption (<5/day) 83.7%. In adjusted logistic regression analysis, physical inactivity (adjusted odds ratio = AOR: 1.43, 95% confidence interval=CI, 1.061.93) was positively, and being overweight or obese (AOR: 0.65; 95% CI, 0.450.95), soft drink consumption (AOR: 0.55; 95% CI, 0.440.69), fast food consumption (AOR: 0.59; 95% CI, 0.470.74), and peer support (AOR: 0.69; 95% CI, 0.540.88) were negatively associated with inadequate FV consumption. A high proportion of inadequate FV consumption was found and strategies to increase FV consumption in this population may take into account sociodemographic, lifestyle, peer and parental factors.