The fruit and vegetable intake of young Australian adults: a population perspective.

OBJECTIVE: To examine intakes and variety of fruit and vegetables consumed by Australian young adults, also assessing differences by meal occasion and sociodemographic characteristics.

DESIGN: Secondary analysis of cross-sectional 24 h recall data collected through the 2011-12 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey. Crude means and proportions consuming fruits and vegetables were calculated. Pearson χ 2 tests, Kruskal-Wallis analyses and linear regression models were used to assess differences in mean intakes by age, BMI and sociodemographic variables. The variety eaten was determined based on the number of fruit and vegetable subgroups consumed.

SETTING: Representative sample of metropolitan and rural areas across Australia.

SUBJECTS: Respondents aged 18-34 years were included (n 2397).

RESULTS: Mean daily intake of fruit (128 g/0·9 servings) and vegetables (205 g/2·7 servings) was lower than the minimum recommended intake set at 2 and 5 servings, respectively. Age was positively associated with fruit and vegetable intake (P=0·002, P<0·001), with 18-24-year-olds reporting the poorest vegetable variety compared with 25-29- and 30-34-year-olds (P=0·002). When controlling for total energy, males consumed less vegetables than females (P=0·002). A large proportion of the 15 % of respondents who consumed adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables on the day prior to the survey reported intake across all meal occasions (P<0·001).

CONCLUSIONS: Fruit and vegetable intake is suboptimal among Australian young adults. An age-appropriate campaign is recommended to target increased consumption, particularly for those aged 18-24 years, with opportunity to promote increased variety and consumption across the day.