Abstract
BackgroundFruit and vegetable consumption is low in the Netherlands and a key target in healthy diet promotion. However, hardly any information is available on differences in fruit and vegetable consumption between Dutch children and ethnic minority children. Therefore, the aim of present study was to determine differences in usual fruit and vegetable intake between native Dutch and non-Western ethnic minority children and to study differences in and mediating effects of potential psychosocial and environmental determinants.MethodsEthnicity, usual fruit and vegetable consumption, psychosocial and environmental determinants and mothers' educational level were measured with a self-administered questionnaire during school hours in primary schools in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Complete data was available for 521 10–11 year-old-children, of which 50.5% of non-Western origin. Differences between the groups regarding potential determinants and fruit and vegetable intake were assessed with Mann Whitney tests or multiple regression analyses. Multiple regression analyses were also conducted to assess mediating effects.ResultsEthnic minority girls ate fruit more frequently (1.41 ± 1.0 times/day) than Dutch girls (1.03 ± 0.82 times/day); no differences in frequency of intake were found for vegetables or among boys. Ethnic differences were found for almost all potential determinants. The Dutch children reported lower scores on these determinants than the ethnic minority children, except for perceived self-efficacy and barriers to eat fruit and vegetables. Knowledge of recommendations and facilitating behaviors of the parents mediated the association between ethnicity and fruit consumption among girls.ConclusionEthnic minority girls in the Netherlands appear to have more favorable fruit intakes than Dutch girls, and ethnic minority children in general show more positive prerequisites for fruit and vegetable consumption. Interventions addressing multi-ethnic populations of children must take such differences into account.
Highlights
Fruit and vegetable consumption is low in the Netherlands and a key target in healthy diet promotion
Fruit intake On average, the children reported eating fruit 1.15 ± 0.9 times a day, which was significantly higher among girls (1.24 ± 0.96 times/day) than among boys (1.24 ± 0.96 versus 1.06 ± 0.91 times/day, p = 0.033)
The aim of this study was to assess differences in fruit and vegetable consumption between Dutch children and children from non-Western immigrants living in Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Summary
Fruit and vegetable consumption is low in the Netherlands and a key target in healthy diet promotion. About 10% of the population in The Netherlands is of recent non-Western immigrant origin, with Turkish people forming the largest ethnic minority group [1]. Common explanations for the increased risk for chronic diseases in non-Western immigrants is the fact that they more often have lower socioeconomic position, accompanied by living in deprived areas, poorer working conditions, and more often engage in health risk behaviors such as smoking, sedentary behaviors, and high fat intakes [3,12,13,14]. There is some evidence that some of the larger immigrant groups in the Netherlands have healthier diets. Their diets may be related to Mediterranean diets with, for example, higher consumption of fruit and vegetables. Others report decreasing intakes of fruit and vegetable in immigrants, related to the degree of acculturation [19,20,21]
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