Association between obesity and fruit and vegetable consumption: a population-based study in Peru

Objective: To evaluate if fruits and vegetables consumption is associated with overweight and obesity in Peruvian adults and as to describe the sociodemographic profi le of the people with overweight and obesity. Subjects and methods: Populationbased study that used data from the National Demographic and Health Survey (DHSENDES) performed in the 25 regions of Perú. The outcomes were overweight and obesity assessed using the Body Mass Index, whereas the exposure variable was the fruit and vegetable consumption evaluated by self-report during the last seven days. Poisson regression models adjusted by potential confounders were used to evaluate associated factors with overweight and obesity, as well as the association of interest, reporting prevalence ratios (PR) and 95% confi dence intervals (95%CI). Results: Data from 4,641 participants, mean age 37.1 years (SD: 11.8) and 53.6% women, were analyzed. Only 220 (4.8%; 95%CI 4.1%-5.4%) individuals reported a fruit and vegetable consumption of ≥5 portions per day, whereas 1,818 (39.2%; 95% CI 37.8%-40.6%) had overweight and 865 (18.6%; IC95% 17.5%-19.8%) presented obesity. Factors associated with overweight and obesity included gender, age, education level, socioeconomic level, marital status, and hypertension diagnosis. No association was found between a greater fruit and vegetable consumption and overweight (p=0.98) or obesity (p=0.99). Conclusions: No evidence of association between overweight and obesity with fruit and vegetable consumption was found. Only 1 out of 20 individuals reported consuming the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables per day, whereas 60% had overweight and obesity.

Author(s): Arribas Harten, Cristina; Battistini Urteaga, Tania; Rodriguez Teves, María Gracia; Bernabé Ortiz, Antonio
Source: Revista Chilena de Nutrición (Rev Chil Nutr)

URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10757/582623