Shahridzal Shaliza A, Lau May Y, Abd Talib Ruzita, Mohd Saat Nur Zakiah
Centre for Community Health Studies (ReaCH), Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Nutritional Science Program, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Front Public Health. 2025 Jul 16;13:1539506. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1539506. eCollection 2025.
Substantial scientific evidence firmly advocates consumption of vegetables and fruits for maintenance of overall health and protection against chronic diseases, such as obesity. However, prevalence of fruit and vegetable intake among adolescents in Malaysia remains low, whereas the data on factors associated with vegetable and fruit intake among adolescents were limited.
This study aims to determine the prevalence of fruit and vegetable intake and the factors that influence the Malaysian adolescents' consumption of fruits and vegetables.
A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2021 to August 2022 by distribution of an online validated questionnaire on various platforms to recruit school-going adolescents aged 13 to 17 years old (Form 1-5) in Selangor. Respondents were screened and data of eligible participants were included as subjects. Descriptive statistics, chi square analysis, and generalized linear model with Poisson-loglinear distribution and the robust estimator were employed for data analysis.
A total of 277 adolescents participated in this study. Overall, low prevalence of adequate vegetable consumption was observed (23.5%). Of the participants surveyed, 14.8% of adolescents with thinness, 25.2% and 15.0% of adolescents with overweight and obesity, and 27.1% of normal-weight adolescents met the recommended daily intake (>3 servings), whereas 64.1% of adolescents with overweight and obesity and 65% of normal-weight participants consumed at least two servings of fruits a day. The findings revealed significant association between BMI-for-age ( = 5.236, = 0.022) and adolescent fruit intake. On the other hand, overweight and obese adolescents reporting positive intention (PR: 1.146, 95% CI: 1.002, 1.310, = 0.047) and parental allowance (PR: 1.125, 95% CI: 1.011, 1.252, = 0.030) were observed to have 14.6% and 12.5% higher prevalence of fruit consumption, respectively, while availability at home (PR: 0.849, 95% CI: 0.731, 0.987, = 0.033) showed significantly lower prevalence of fruit intake with more reports of home availability.
The study suggests that personal, social-environmental, and physical-environmental factors influence vegetable and fruit intake among adolescents, particularly fruit intake consumption behaviors among overweight and obese adolescent population in Selangor. The enunciation of these intake correlates could potentially be incorporated in future development of intervention strategies to effectively promote fruit and vegetable intake.
大量科学证据坚定支持食用蔬菜和水果以维持整体健康并预防肥胖等慢性疾病。然而，马来西亚青少年中水果和蔬菜摄入量的普遍程度仍然较低，而且关于青少年水果和蔬菜摄入量相关因素的数据有限。
本研究旨在确定水果和蔬菜摄入量的普遍程度以及影响马来西亚青少年食用水果和蔬菜的因素。
2021年11月至2022年8月进行了一项横断面研究，通过在各个平台分发经过验证的在线问卷，招募雪兰莪州13至17岁（中一至中五）的在校青少年。对受访者进行筛选，符合条件参与者的数据被纳入研究对象。采用描述性统计、卡方分析以及具有泊松对数线性分布和稳健估计量的广义线性模型进行数据分析。
共有277名青少年参与了本研究。总体而言，观察到蔬菜充足摄入量的普遍程度较低（23.5%）。在接受调查的参与者中，消瘦青少年中有14.8%、超重和肥胖青少年中有25.2%和15.0%、正常体重青少年中有27.1%达到了每日推荐摄入量（>3份），而超重和肥胖青少年中有64.1%以及正常体重参与者中有65%每天至少食用两份水果。研究结果显示年龄别体重指数（χ² = 5.236，P = 0.022）与青少年水果摄入量之间存在显著关联。另一方面，报告有积极意愿（PR：1.146，95% CI：1.002，1.310，P = 0.047）和父母允许（PR：1.125，95% CI：1.011，1.252，P = 0.030）的超重和肥胖青少年水果消费的普遍程度分别高出14.6%和12.5%，而家中有水果（PR：0.849，95% CI：0.731，0.987，P = 0.033）表明随着家中水果可得性报告增多，水果摄入量的普遍程度显著降低。
该研究表明个人、社会环境和物理环境因素会影响青少年的蔬菜和水果摄入量，尤其是雪兰莪州超重和肥胖青少年群体的水果摄入消费行为。阐明这些摄入相关因素可能会被纳入未来干预策略开发中，以有效促进水果和蔬菜的摄入。
