Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Patterns and Risk of Chronic Diseases of Lifestyle among University Students in Kenya

Abstract

This study assesses the fruit and vegetable consumption patterns and risk factors for chronic diseases of lifestyle (CDL) among young adults attending Kenyatta University, Kenya. Four hundred and twenty-three young adults aged 19–30 years participated in the cross-sectional study. Males were 75.0% less likely to be overweight than females (OR = 0.25; 0.13–0.47). The mean overall consumption of fruit and/or vegetables amounted to 3.6 servings in a typical day. Eight in ten participants consumed lower amounts of fruits and vegetables than recommended by the WHO. At least one combined risk factor of CDL was observed among 91.3% of the young adults. About 8.7% of the participants were classified as low risk for CDL (having none of the five risk factors), 48.9% had one risk factor, 32.9% had two risk factors, 8.5% had three risk factors, while 0.9% had four risk factors. A significant relationship between daily fruit consumption and waist circumference was observed. These findings show the dire need to develop public health nutrition activities aimed at increasing the intake of fruit and vegetables and sensitizing young adults, and the general population, to the risk factors of CDL.

Current status of bariatric surgery perceptions in Hail region, Saudi Arabia

“…The results of our study are consistent with the results of the previous study, which also showed that sports were practiced by only about half of the participants (Aldawqi et al, 2018). The low level of physical activity plays a very important role in increasing obesity rates (Pojednic et al, 2022;Xiao et al, 2022), in addition to the fact that there is a link between low fruit intake and high body mass index (Aiello et al, 2022;Nyanchoka et al, 2022). In general current study showed that the level of awareness to obesity and weight reduction surgeries not influenced by sex, educational level, economic status, smoking habits and a history of obesity.…”

Balancing Act: Exploring the Interplay Between Lifestyle Habits and Nutritional Status Among University Students. A Cross-Sectional Study

“…About 25.3% and 74.7% resided within and out of the university accommodation halls, respectively. Similarly, a study by [11] in a cross-sectional analytical study among Kenyan university students sampled a similar proportion of females and males (60.3% females vs. 39.7% males). A study by [12] among Ghanaian university students reported that a higher proportion (54.2%) of the respondents were females.…”

“…In the present study, higher intakes of daily (28.9%), fruit intake (32.9%), vegetables (51.8%) and lower intakes of breakfast (58.2%) were reported. In a crosssectional study of Kenyan university students, [11] found that over 80% of the respondents consumed lower amounts of vegetables and fruits.…”

Food consumption patterns in employees of Ethiopian institute of agricultural research

“…Similar findings were seen from studies in Sudan [ 32 ] and Ethiopia [ 33 ], where fruits and vegetables were consumed in very low quantities by households and children. In Kenya [ 7 ], about eight of ten university students consumed lower amounts of fruits and vegetables. The increased consumption of sweets and fats is mainly due to the participants might have more opportunities for the intake of tea, coffee, sweet baked goods, and locally “wet” foods made with salt and butter or oils once or frequently in a day.…”

“…Diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have recently been affecting working populations at an alarming rate [ 5 , 6 ]. The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that the global burden of NCDs will rise from 49% to 56% by 2030 [ 7 ]. This is linked to nutrition transition and the shift in dietary consumption towards increased intake of foods high in sugars, sweets, fats and oils, and a decrease in calorie expenditure [ 8 ].…”