title: Adolescent fruit and vegetable intake: influence of family support and moderation by home availability of relationships with afrocentric values and taste preferences.
abstract: Economically disadvantaged African-American adolescents have fruit and vegetable (F/V) intakes that are less than optimal. To facilitate intervention planning to address low F/V intake in this population, an understanding of determinants of youths' intake is needed. The influence of determinants consistently supported by evidence (ie, home F/V availability, F/V taste preferences, and parental modeling/intake) and variables hypothesized to influence intake in the targeted population (ie, family support for F/V consumption and Afrocentric values) were examined. Participants were African-American adolescents recruited in 2011 through summer camps serving low-income youths (N=93). Youths completed a cross-sectional survey. Hierarchical logistic regression analysis was used to examine whether availability directly influenced (ie, explained variations in) intake and whether it moderated (ie, affected the direction and/or strength of) the relationships between the other hypothesized determinants and intake. The dependent variable was intake of five or more daily servings of F/V estimated with the Block 7-item food frequency questionnaire. Family support was directly related to intake (odds ratio=1.062; 95% CI 1.007 to 1.120; P=0.026). The relationships between F/V intake and taste preferences and Afrocentric values were moderated by (ie, differed based on) home F/V availability. When availability was high, taste preferences (odds ratio=1.081; 95% CI 1.007 to 1.161; P=0.032) and Afrocentric values (OR=2.504; 95% CI 1.303 to 4.811; P=0.006) had positive influences on intake. To enhance intervention effectiveness, more research is warranted on approaches for increasing home F/V availability and family support for F/V consumption in the targeted population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Sociology, William Paterson University, Wayne, NJ, USA. dinoiaj@wpunj.edu
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Di Noia
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Byrd-Bredbenner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003469:Culture; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D005638:Fruit / Q000600:supply & distribution; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D016487:Parenting; D011203:Poverty; D012931:Social Environment; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013649:Taste; D014675:Vegetables / Q000600:supply & distribution