Changing patterns of fruit and vegetable intake in countries of the former Soviet Union

Abstract

Objective: To assess how the frequency of low fruit and vegetable consumption has changed in countries of the former Soviet Union (FSU) between 2001 and 2010 and to identify factors associated with low consumption. Design: Cross-sectional surveys. A standard questionnaire was administered at both time points to examine fruit and vegetable consumption frequency. Logistic regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between demographic, socio-economic and health behavioural variables and low fruit and vegetable consumption in 2010. Setting: Nationally representative population samples from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine. Subjects: Adults aged 18 years and older. Results: Between 2001 and 2010 notable changes occurred in fruit and vegetable consumption in many countries resulting in a slight overall deterioration in diet. By 2010 in six countries about 40 % of the population was eating fruit once weekly or less often, while for vegetables the corresponding figure was in excess of 20 % in every country except Azerbaijan. A worse socio-economic situation, negative health behaviours (smoking and alcohol consumption) and rural residence were all associated with low levels of fruit and vegetable consumption. Conclusions: International dietary guidelines emphasise the importance of fruit and vegetable consumption. The scale of inadequate consumption of these food groups among much of the population in many FSU countries and its link to socio-economic disadvantage are deeply worrying. This highlights the urgent need for a greater focus to be placed on population nutrition policies to avoid nutrition-related diseases in the FSU countries.

Are French Canadians able to accurately self-rate the quality of their diet? Insights from the PREDISE study

“…Our results also suggest that participants with higher income and education level are more likely to have a positive opinion of the healthiness of their diet as was previously observed (Hill et al 2006;Canadian Council of Food and Nutrition 2008;Loftfield et al 2015). These differences in the perception of diet healthiness according to sociodemographic characteristics corroborate the results from numerous studies showing significantly healthier diet in women (Wardle et al 2000;Garriguet 2009;Dehghan et al 2011;Abe et al 2013;Aggarwal et al 2014;Goryakin et al 2015;Swan et al 2015), older individuals (Beydoun and Wang 2008;Dehghan et al 2011;Aggarwal et al 2014;Swan et al 2015), and people with higher income (Kamphuis et al 2006;Beydoun and Wang 2008;Garriguet 2009;Abe et al 2013;Aggarwal et al 2014;Goryakin et al 2015;Swan et al 2015) or education level (Wardle et al 2000;Beydoun and Wang 2008;Garriguet 2009;Dehghan et al 2011;Abe et al 2013;Aggarwal et al 2014;Goryakin et al 2015). Our results also showed that BMI decreased as the self-rated diet quality increased, as observed elsewhere (Loftfield et al 2015).…”

A systematic review of methods to assess intake of fruits and vegetables among healthy European adults and children: a DEDIPAC (DEterminants of DIet and Physical Activity) study

“…Dietary questionnaire Finbalt Health Monitor (66) 4 (Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania) FFQ Finnish and Russian Karelia study (67) (126,127) HTT (71) 9 (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine)…”

“…Hupkens et al (72) 3 (Belgium, Netherlands, Germany) FFQ X (128) I.Family Project (50,73,74) 8 (Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Sweden) Diet questionnaire (FFQ) which was included as part of the parent questionnaire X Online 24-HDR (SACANA) IHBS (75) 17 (Austria, Denmark, England, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland) FFQ X IMMIDIET (76) 3 (Italy, Belgium, England) EPIC-Italian FFQ X (39,129) EPIC-UK FFQ Specifically developed Belgian FFQ Kolarzyk et al (48) 4 (Poland, Belarus, Russia, Lithuania) FFQ X LiVicordia (77) 2 (Lithuania, Sweden) 24-HDR LLH (71) 8 (Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine) FFQ MEDIS (78) 2 (Cyprus, Greece) FFQ X (138) MGSD (79) 6 (Greece, Italy, Algeria, Bulgaria, Egypt, Yugoslavia (only diabetics in Yugoslavia)) Dietary history method using questionnaire X (79) NORBAGREEN (41,80) 8 (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Iceland) FFQ X (80) O'Neill et al (82) 5 (UK, Republic of Ireland, Spain, France, Netherlands) FFQ X Parfitt et al (83) 2 (England, Italy) 5-7 d record PRIME (84) 2 (Northern Ireland, France) FFQ X PRO GREENS (85) 10 (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Finland)…”

The relationship between healthy behaviors and health outcomes among older adults in Russia

“…Cockerham [ 22 ] described dietary behavior as an important unhealthy lifestyle factor in Russia, especially among men. Specifically, fruit and vegetable consumption was insufficient in almost all former Soviet Union countries; the percentage of people consuming fruits daily increased (from 14.9% to 31.2%) and that of people consuming vegetables daily decreased (from 44.6% to 35.5%) during the period 2001–2010, although the quantity of consumption was not examined [ 23 ], preventing evaluation using the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) recommendations. In the late 1990s, poverty was the main reason for insufficient intake of calories, protein, vegetables, and fruits in the elderly population.…”