Children's knowledge and understanding of a healthy diet is often limited, and the health consequences of eating unhealthy foods appear to be of low priority for children. Most children prefer snacks with high energy density and low nutritional value which may contribute to the rise in obesity during childhood (1,2) . This cross-sectional study aimed to 1) examine children's snack preferences and their perception of how healthy snacks are analyzed by age and gender and 2) determine the relationship between children's snacks preference (using the nutritional composition of energy, fat, sugar and salt content of the 18 snacks) and their health parameters.Children of nursery and primary schools aged 3-12 years old (212 boys and 260 girls) were interviewed at their schools and performed snack card sorting exercises in which they were presented with 18 various types of coloured snack images which counted as one portion in size. A series of ranking questions (most to least) were asked. These included three main snack perception questions, 1) children's snack preferences; 2) children's perception of their parents snack preferences for them; 3) children's perception of the snacks healthiness. Health parameters of height, weight, body fat, waist circumference and hip circumference were also measured on the day of the interview. The ranked snacks were replaced by the computed nutritional composition of energy, fat, sugar and salt content of the 18 snacks. The mean of the nutritional composition of the five top and bottom snacks chosen by children was used in the analysis.There was no significant relationship between children's age and snack preference (linear regression: F (1,469) = 2·758, p = 0·097, r 2 = 0·006) and no gender preferences of all types of snacks (independent t-test: t (469) = 0·293, p = 0·77). The perception of snack healthiness increased with age (F (1,457) = 80·53, p < 0·001, r 2 = 0·15) but there was no gender differences (t (457) = 0·552, p = 0·58). When children were asked about their parent's snack choices for them, they chose the snacks that they also perceived to be healthiest (linear regression: F (1,16) = 980·61, p < 0·001, r 2 = 0·98). The highest proportion of children brought fruit and vegetables into school as their snack (34%). Children's with high/low BMI-percentile did not show a specific preference for any snacks however, snacks high in fat and sugar content were preferred by children with higher body fat. Snacks high in energy and fat content was preferred by heavier children and snack high in fat alone was preferred by those with higher in waist circumferences and waist to hip ratio respectively (Multiple regression; adjusted for age, sex and schools, p < 0·001).In conclusion, despite Scottish, nursery and primary age children correctly perceiving what counts as a healthy snack, this perception was not translated into their snacking behaviours. Further nutrition education about healthy eating practices is required, specifically at school.

Background: There is conflicting information about whether Scottish children follow the UK government recommendation of consuming 5 portions of fruit and vegetable

Little is known about whether Scottish children follow the UK government recommendation of consuming 5 portions of fruit and vegetables (F&V) a day (1,2) or whether there is any association between F&V intake and health parameters (HP). This study aimed to 1) examine changes in the number of portions of F&V that children consume by age and gender throughout their primary school education. 2) Establish the relationship between F&V intake and HP in primary school children.In 2015, data was collected from nine schools (236 children between 4-13 years old). All F&V was assessed using a questionnaire that specifically focused on the consumption of F&V. Children's parents were asked to report any fruit or vegetables (excluding potatoes) consumed in 3 main meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and 2 snacks (before lunch, dinner) a day for 4 days. HP (weight, height, body composition, blood pressure, waist circumference, hip circumference and lung function) were collected from all of the children.Children consumed on average a total of 4·25 (SD 1·65) portions of F&V per day (including fruit juices and other food that contained F&V). F&V intake was the same for girls compared to boys (fruit intake (t = 0·11, p = 0·91) and vegetable intake (t = 0·88, p = 0·38)). Children aged 4-6 and 8-10 years old had significantly higher intake of F&V compared to 6-8 and 10-12 + children. Children increased their intake of F&V over the weekdays compared to weekend days (t = 4·99, p < 0·05). Only 32 % children achieved the recommended F&V intake of five or more.This current study revealed after controlling for age, sex and schools that those children who increased intake of F&V had an increase in weight (W) (R = 0·530, P < 0·05), height (H) (R = 0·645, P < 0·05), waist circumference (WC) (R = 0·369, P < 0·05), waist/hip ratio (WHP) (R = 0·029, P = 0·036), forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) (R = 0·055, P = 0·033) and forced vital capacity (FVC) (R = 0·052, P = 0·041) while those children who increased intake of F&V had a decrease in systolic blood pressure (BPS) (R = 0·060, P = 0·008), pulse (P) (R = 0·077, P = 0·002), hip Circumference (HC) (R = 0·376, P < 0·05) and waist to height ratio (WH) (R = 0·173, P < 0·05). Other health parameters did not show any relationship.Although some studies examined the relationship between F&V intake and specific health parameters in adults and children, ours was unique in our extensive measurement of health parameters. Unexpectedly an increased in F&V intake were positively related to some of children's health parameters. The lack of similar association to these findings among children at primary age or adults make it not clearly understood and needs further investigation.

Introduction: There is a lack of the awareness in the fruit and vegetable (F & V) recommendation among Saudi society. Although the known facts of the benefits of F & V on health, information on Saudi society following the advised recommendation whether by WHO or local are still unknown. Aim: This cross-sectional study aims to examine the perception of F & V intake among students at Umm Al-Qura University and to assess if they follow these recommendations of F & V locally and internationally. Method: Students from Umm Al-Qura University participated in this study (n = 98, age between 18 -55). All data were collected using short online survey via Online survey-Survey Monkey in 2019. Result: 55% students were not aware of these recommendations whereas 45% were aware of WHO recommendation. The majority of students 53% have less than two portions a day of F & V. Only 14% have between two to four portions a day. 32% do not eat any portion of F & V daily. 59%, 14%, 5% of students believe that they should have five, seven, more than seven portions a day for being healthy respectively. Maintaining health, reducing the risk for chronic disease and providing essential vitamins and minerals to the body were all reasons why students believe that they should have F & V everyday by 71%. Busy lifestyle, F & V cost, lack of the awareness about the health benefits, dislike of the taste, some F & V spoiled easily were all factors affecting eating F & V daily. Conclusion: University students need educational and nutritional campaigns to spread the awareness about the health benefits of F & V. Most importantly the ministry of health should support those campaigns to increase students' awareness and build a healthy society with a good habit.

Introduction: There is a lack in the awareness in the fruit and vegetable (F&V) recommendation among Saudi society. Although the known facts of the benefits of F&V on health, information on Saudi society following the advised recommendation whether by WHO or local is still unknown. Aim: This cross- sectional study aim to examine the perception of F&V intake among students and staff at Umm Al-Qura University and to assess if they follow these recommendations of F&V locally and internationally. Method: Students and staff from Umm Al-Qura University participated in this study (n= 98, age between 18- 55). All data were collected using short online survey via Online survey - Survey Monkey in 2019. Result: 55% students and staff were not aware about these recommendations whereas 45% were aware about WHO recommendation. The majority of students and staff 53% have less than two portions a day of F&V. Only 14% have between two to four portions a day. 32% do not eat any portion of F&V daily. 59%, 14%, 5% of students and staff who believe that they should have five, seven, more than seven portions a day for being healthy respectively. Maintaining health, reduce the risk for chronic disease and providing essential vitamins and minerals to the body were all reasons why students and staff believe that they should have F&V everyday by 71%. Busy lifestyle, F&V cost, lack of the awareness about the health benefits, dislike the taste, some F&V spoil easily were all factors affecting eating F&V daily. Conclusion: People need educational and nutritional campaigns to spread the awareness about the health benefits of F&V. Most importantly the ministry of health should support those campaigns to increase people awareness and build a healthy society with a good habit. Keywords: Fruit intake, veg intake, F&V recommendation, students, staff, Umm Al-Qura University

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The relationship between snack preferences/healthiness and health parameters is still poorly defined. Most children choose snacks low in nutritional value, which may contribute to the rise in childhood obesity. This study has examined children’s snack preferences and healthiness by age and gender and correlated them with their health parameters. Scottish Nursery and Primary children aged 3–12 years (n = 472) performed snack card sorting exercises in which they were presented with 18 different colored snack images, which counted as one portion, followed by two main snack questions related to snack healthiness and preferences. Health parameters were measured. Older children were better able to determine which snacks were healthier based on their energy content. Children with a higher body mass index percentile were not found to have a specific preference for unhealthy snacks based on the four nutritional components. However, snacks high in fat and sugar (and low in energy and salt) were preferred by children with higher body fat. A positive relationship was observed between the energy content of the children’s top five snacks selected for healthiness and their weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, and waist-to-height ratio. There was only a negative relationship with height and body fat. The relationship between children’s perceptions of snack preferences and healthiness and their health parameters is still unclear and needs further investigation.