Fruit and vegetable intake in a sample of 11-year-old children in 9 European countries: The Pro Children Cross-sectional Survey.
OBJECTIVE
An adequate fruit and vegetable intake provides essential nutrients and nutritive compounds and is considered an important part of a healthy lifestyle. No simple instrument has been available for the assessment of fruit and vegetable intake as well as its determinants in school-aged children applicable in different European countries. Within the Pro Children Project, such an instrument has been developed. This paper describes the cross-sectional survey in 11-year-olds in 9 countries.


METHODS
The cross-sectional survey used nationally, and in 2 countries regionally, representative samples of schools and classes. The questionnaires, including a precoded 24-hour recall component and a food frequency part, were completed in the classroom. Data were treated using common syntax files for portion sizes and for merging of vegetable types into four subgroups.


RESULTS
The results show that the fruit and vegetable intake in amounts and choice were highly diverse in the 9 participating countries. Vegetable intake was in general lower than fruit intake, boys consumed less fruit and vegetables than girls did. The highest total intake according to the 24-hour recall was found in Austria and Portugal, the lowest in Spain and Iceland.


CONCLUSIONS
The fruit and vegetable intake in 11-year-old children was in all countries far from reaching population goals and food-based dietary guidelines on national and international levels.
Yngve
Agneta
A
Department of Biosciences, Unit for Preventive Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. agneta.yngve@prevnut.ki.se
Wolf
Alexandra
A
Poortvliet
Eric
E
Elmadfa
Ibrahim
I
Brug
Johannes
J
Ehrenblad
Bettina
B
Franchini
Bela
B
Haraldsdóttir
Jóhanna
J
Krølner
Rikke
R
Maes
Lea
L
Pérez-Rodrigo
Carmen
C
Sjostrom
Michael
M
Thórsdóttir
Inga
I
Klepp
Knut-Inge
KI
D002648:Child; D002664:Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004034:Diet Surveys; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D012574:Schools; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014675:Vegetables