Consumption of fruits, vegetables, soft drinks, and high-fat-containing snacks among Mexican children on the Mexico-U.S. border.
BACKGROUND
The recommended diet for children would promote health, support growth, and prevent risk of disease. Diets high in fruits and vegetables demonstrate a strong and consistent pattern for decreasing the risk for many cancers and providing benefits against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and stroke. The purpose of this study was to assess fruit, vegetable, soft drink, and high-fat-containing snack consumption among fifth- and ninth-grade children attending public schools in the northeastern Mexican state of Baja California.


METHODS
A randomized design was used to select 20 schools with fifth-grade students and 20 schools with ninth-grade students in each of the five Baja California counties. A randomized sample of 20 classes of fifth- and ninth-grade students was then selected. The food frequency questionnaire used contained 36 items. Foods were grouped in the five main food categories, plus soft drinks, sweets, and high-fat-containing snacks. Means, standard deviations (SDs), and frequencies were calculated using SPSS, while chi square was employed to test the association between food consumption and selected variables.


RESULTS
Mean daily intake of fruits was 1.5 by children from both grades, while daily mean intake of vegetables was 2.5 for fifth-grade students. The percentage of children with intakes lower than the standard (Apple of Health) was 77 and 80% for fifth and ninth graders for fruits and 62 and 53% for vegetables, respectively. At least 92% of fifth graders reported consuming one soft drink, and 85% consumed one portion of high-fat-containing snacks daily.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results demonstrated overall low intake of fruits and vegetables and excessive consumption of soft drinks and high-fat-containing snacks, leading to the possibility of costly health complications later in life.
Jiménez-Cruz
Arturo
A
Programa de Posgrado en Nutrición-Tijuana, Instituto de Nutrición de Baja California, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. ajimenez@costa.tij.uabc.mx
Bacardí-Gascón
Montserrat
M
Jones
Elizabeth G
EG
D000293:Adolescent; D002253:Carbonated Beverages; D002648:Child; D003625:Data Collection; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004034:Diet Surveys; D004041:Dietary Fats; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014675:Vegetables
D004041:Dietary Fats