Consumption of fruits and vegetables among older adults: findings from the ELSI‐Brazil study

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the prevalence of recommended consumption of fruits and vegetables and their associated factors in a national sample representative of the Brazilian population aged 60 or over. Baseline data from the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSI-Brazil), conducted from 2015 to 2016, including 4,982 older individuals, were used. The recommended consumption of fruits and vegetables was assessed based on questions on the weekly and daily frequency of fruits, natural fruit juice, and vegetables. Intake of five or more servings of these foods on five or more days per week was considered as recommended consumption. Exploratory variables included socio-demographic characteristics, health behaviors, health conditions, and use of health services. Univariate and multiple logistic regression were used to examine the factors associated with the recommended consumption of fruits and vegetables. The prevalence of recommended consumption of fruits and vegetables was 12.9% (95%CI: 11.5-14.3). This consumption showed associations with gender (women - OR = 1.40; 95%CI: 1.08-1.82), age group (80 years or older - OR = 1.66; 95%CI: 1.16-2.37), education level (8 years or more - OR = 2.07; 95%CI: 1.51-2.86), smoking (former smokers - OR = 0.69; 95%CI: 0.55-0.85 and current smokers - OR = 0.50; 95%CI: 0.33-0.77) and medical appointments in the previous 12 months (OR = 1.88; 95%CI: 1.31-2.71). Our findings showed a low prevalence of the recommended consumption of fruits and vegetables among older Brazilian adults, drawing attention to the need for policies aimed at increasing this consumption in the studied population.

The Potential of Solanum aethopicam Supplementation to Reduce the Anthropometric and Biochemical Risk Factors for Non-communicable Diseases among Older Persons in Mukono Municipality, Uganda: A Before-and-After Study

“…Reports from a recent comprehensive systematic review suggest an increase protection against mortality due to NCDs as the dose of vegetables increase from 100grams per day to 200grams per day; and no additional bene t beyond a daily dose of above 300grams (Woodside et al, 2023). However, other authors a rm that a daily consumption of a minimum of 400g of vegetables is bene cial in the reduction of the risk for NCDs (Bolbinski et al, 2023). There may be variation in daily dose requirement for maximum bene ts dependent on the vegetable type, preparation method and the meal composition.…”

“…Increased vegetable consumption is a potential mitigating strategy for the control of NCDs in LMICs of Sub-Saharan Africa given the availability of vegetables in most LMICs (Woodside et al, 2023). Although studies in Brazil suggest that less than 20% of older persons, especially females, adhere to the daily recommended vegetable consumption (Bolbinski et al, 2023), data on vegetable consumption in Africa is scarce. However, an earlier populationbased study in South Africa among 3,840 older persons aged 50 years and above, noted an adherence to daily vegetable consumption of 31.5% among males and 28.6% among females, and adherence was poor among black South Africans (Peltzer and Phaswana-Mafuya, 2012).…”