engleski

Increased fruit and vegetable intake over three years is related to the weight status of primary school children

Importance of daily fruit and vegetables consumption is well known for maintaining weight status in adults. Therefore, the aim of this study was to estimate the longitudinal relationship between change in weight status and change in fruit and vegetable intake in healthy primary school children. The study was conducted on 139 children (52% boys) aged 8 years from primary schools in the city of Zagreb. 53.2% of children participated in the three-year school-based multicomponent intervention aimed at increasing fruit and vegetable acceptance and consumption. Fruit and vegetable (FV) intake and anthropometric measurements were conducted before (2018/2019 school year) and after the intervention (June 2020/2021 school year). FV intake was measured using a validate food frequency questionnaire. Anthropometric measurements were performed according to the standard protocol and z-scores for body mass index (BMI) were obtained using AnthroPlus software. Children in the intervention group (Δ98.8 g vs. Δ-31.7 g ; p < 0.001) had a significant increase (p=0.018) in FV intake and a significant decrease in BMI z-scores (Δ-0.26 vs. Δ-0.19 ; p < 0.001) after the intervention compared with the control group. In the intervention group, the change in BMI was weakly correlated with the change in FV intake (r=-0.173 ; p < 0.01), while this correlation was not found in the control group (r=0.088 ; p=0.491). In conclusion, increased fruit and vegetable intake over time may influence the change in the weight status of children. Therefore, it is necessary to establish proper eating habits in children, with emphasis on sufficient fruit and vegetable intake.

Childhood ; Fruit intake ; Nutrition intervention ; Vegetable intake ; Weight status

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