title: Stages of changes for fruit and vegetable intake and their relation to the nutritional status of undergraduate students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the nutritional and dietetic profile of freshman Nutrition undergraduate students, and its association with stages of changes (Transtheoretical Model) for fruit and vegetable intake.
  
  
  METHODS
  Demographic (age and gender), anthropometric (body mass index and waist circumference) and nutritional (pattern of fruit and vegetable intake) data were obtained. The Transtheoretical Model was used to identify the stages of change for fruit and vegetable intake. Food consumption was assessed with a questionnaire developed by the Ministry of Health. The significance level considered for all statistical tests was 0.05 (p<0.05).
  
  
  RESULTS
  From 433 eligible students, anthropometric measurements were taken from 219 (50.6%), and 299 (69%) underwent food intake evaluation. The sample included undergraduate students with a low frequency of adequate fruit and vegetables intake (29.8%), being the majority (64.9%) of them classified as at the preparation stage to increase the intake of these food groups. Prevalence of adequate fruit and vegetables intake was higher among students at the action/maintenance stages (83.3%) compared to those at the precontemplation/contemplation (18.3%) and at the preparation stages (32.0%). Students at the preparation stage presented the highest medians for body mass index (p=0.004) and waist circumference (p=0.039) compared to those at the precontemplation/contemplation stages. There was no association between fruit and vegetables intake and the presence of overweight or abdominal obesity (p=0.373).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This instrument is effective to predict the food intake and, even among aware individuals and ready to change their food behavior, the prevalence of nutritional risk is high.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Nove de Julho, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lígia Cardoso dos
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.affiliation: Universidade Nove de Julho, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ingrid Chaves
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Correia
authors.affiliation: Universidade Nove de Julho, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Edna Shibuya
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Mizutani
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000886:Anthropometry; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015596:Nutrition Assessment; D009752:Nutritional Status; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014495:Universities; D014675:Vegetables; D055815:Young Adult
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