Vegetable consumption and diet diversity among households with and without vegetable gardens in Quezon city, Philippines

Abstract

BackgroundDietary diversity is key in determining the quality of a person’s diet by including theconsumption of several food groups. Vegetable gardening is a holistic approach toproducing nutritious food and reducing food insecurity. Higher vegetable consumption isclosely associated with better diet quality and dietary diversity score.ObjectiveThis study aims to analyze the vegetable consumption and diet diversity of householdswith vegetable gardens and households without vegetable gardens.MethodsThe study used a quantitative method and a descriptive and inferential research design.Given the specific profile of respondents, purposive sampling was employed. However,quotas per profile were set. The data were collected using quantitative tools such as guidedquestionnaires and a 24-hour dietary recall questionnaire.ResultsThe majority of the gardeners were female, ages 54 to 64, mainly living in the Barangay UPcampus, with high school as their highest educational attainment. The non-gardenerswere Vegetable gardeners who earned less than ₱20,000 compared to the non-gardenerswho earned. Vegetable gardeners were likelier to meet the recommended vegetableconsumption and had a higher Dietary Diversity Score.ConclusionsThe respondents who met the recommended vegetable intake of three to five servings weremostly vegetable gardeners. Thus, vegetable gardening aids in increasing the vegetableconsumption of households because of the accessibility they have to nutritious foodscompared to households that do not practice home gardening.