Indexing
All Issues
Submission
Author Guidelines
Reviewers
Editorial Members
Publication Fee
Vol.1 , No. 2, Publication Date: Jun. 21, 2016, Page: 13-18
 examine adolescents’ attitudes towards intake of fruits and vegetables, and 2) provide insight on demographic-related behaviors towards nutritional lifestyles. Convenience sampling was used to select 65 teens aged 11-19 years from low income households at the Boys and Girls Clubs in Southwest Missouri. Smoothie and salsa mini workshops were organized where teens learned helpful tips for preparing healthful dishes. Teens completed questionnaire to identify what they consider healthy eating behaviors. About 82% adolescents will increase intake of raw fruits and vegetables if dips are provided. Teens stated that peers/friends (77%) and parent (69%) influenced their food selection behaviors. Preference for cooked and raw vegetables was 40% and 42%, respectively. Prior to the provision of food samples at the mini workshops, 82% teens were willing to try new fruits & vegetables. After the teens tasted/ate fruits and vegetables in varied forms (smoothies, salsa, dips/sauces) at the workshops, 100% teens said they will consume these foods. A 60% awareness of MyPlate by teens underscores the importance of provision of nutrition education in this population group. Findings of this study will promote life-long consumption of fruits and vegetables among teens. It provides a roadmap for healthful eating lifestyle among adolescents.&picture=http://www.aascit.org/aascit/decorators/img/journal/829.jpg)
| [1] | Uruakpa F. O., Department of Biomedical Sciences, Missouri State University, Springfield, USA. |
Strong link between diet and health brings spotlight on lifestyles and foods that support health beyond providing basic nutrition. Obesity is a probable “killer disease” of America’s teens. One way to achieve/maintain youths’ healthy body weight is to encourage intake of fruits and vegetables among teens. This study aims to 1) examine adolescents’ attitudes towards intake of fruits and vegetables, and 2) provide insight on demographic-related behaviors towards nutritional lifestyles. Convenience sampling was used to select 65 teens aged 11-19 years from low income households at the Boys and Girls Clubs in Southwest Missouri. Smoothie and salsa mini workshops were organized where teens learned helpful tips for preparing healthful dishes. Teens completed questionnaire to identify what they consider healthy eating behaviors. About 82% adolescents will increase intake of raw fruits and vegetables if dips are provided. Teens stated that peers/friends (77%) and parent (69%) influenced their food selection behaviors. Preference for cooked and raw vegetables was 40% and 42%, respectively. Prior to the provision of food samples at the mini workshops, 82% teens were willing to try new fruits & vegetables. After the teens tasted/ate fruits and vegetables in varied forms (smoothies, salsa, dips/sauces) at the workshops, 100% teens said they will consume these foods. A 60% awareness of MyPlate by teens underscores the importance of provision of nutrition education in this population group. Findings of this study will promote life-long consumption of fruits and vegetables among teens. It provides a roadmap for healthful eating lifestyle among adolescents.
Keywords
Fruits & Vegetables, Nutrition Education Workshops, Teens' Weight Management, Roadmap for Healthful Eating
Reference
| [01] | Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Curtin LR, Lamb MM, Flegal KM (2010). Prevalence of high body mass index in U.S. children and adolescents, 2007-2008. JAMA, 303: 242-249. |
| [02] | http://www.healthyeatingresearch/org/ |
| [03] | USDA/US DHHS (2010). Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010. 7th Edition, U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, December 2010; www.dietaryguidelines.gov |
| [04] | American Heart Association. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, 2010a Update At-A-Glance. http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/1265665152970DS-3241%20HeartStrokeUpdate_2010.pdf. |
| [05] | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Cholesterol Facts. http://www.cdc.gov/cholesterol/facts.htm; http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/fruitsvegetables/index.html |
| [06] | American Heart Association. Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, 2010b Update. Table 6-1. http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/reprint/CIRCULATIONAHA.109.192667. |
| [07] | Egan BM, Zhao Y, Axon RN (2010). U.S. trends in prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension, 1988-2008. JAMA, 303: 2043-2050. Estimates projected to U.S. population in 2009. |
| [08] | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Diabetes Fact Sheet, 2007a. http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/pdf/ndfs_2007.pdf. |
| [09] | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Diabetes Fact Sheet, 2007b. http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/pdf/ndfs_2007.pdf. |
| [10] | National Cancer Institute. Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Stat Fact Sheets: All Sites. http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/all.html. |
| [11] | http://www.healthypeople.gov |
| [12] | www.choosemyplate.gov; www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2010/DietaryGuidelines2010.pdf |
| [13] | www.cdc.gov/nutrition/ |
| [14] | Boyer, J., Liu, R. H. (2004). Apple phytochemicals and their health benefits. Nutrition J., 3: 1-15. |
| [15] | CDC, 2011 [Weekly Report]. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR). November 25, 2011 / 60 (46); 1583-1586. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6046a3.htm |
| [16] | Kimmons, J., Gillespie, C., Seymour, J., Serdula, M., & Michels Blanck, H., 2009. Fruit and Vegetable Intake Among Adolescents and Adults in the United States: Percentage Meeting Individualized Recommendations. Medscape J. Medicine, 11: 26. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2654704/ |
| [17] | Shokrvash, B., Majlessi, F., Montazeri, A., Nedjat, S., Shojaeezadeh, D., Rahimi, A., Djazayeri, A., and Saghafi-Asl, M., 2013. Fruit and Vegetables Consumption among Adolescents: A Study from a Developing Country. World Applied Sciences Journal 21: 1502-1511. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236876206 |
| [18] | Svastisalee, C. M., Holstein, B. E., and Due, P. (2012). Fruit and Vegetable Intake in Adolescents: Association with Socioeconomic Status and Exposure to Supermarkets and Fast Food Outlets. Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, 2012, Article ID 185484, 9 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/185484 |
| [19] | Takaoka, Y., and Kawakami, N. (2013). Fruit and vegetable consumption in adolescence and health in early adulthood: A longitudinal analysis of the Statistics Canada’s National Population Health Survey. BMC Public Health, 13: 1206. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/13/1206 |
| [20] | Norusis, MJ (2012). IBM SPSS Statistics 19 Guide to Data Analysis. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall Inc. |
| [21] | Uruakpa, F. O., Moeckly, B. G., Fulford, L. D., Hollister, M. N., Kim, S., (2013). Awareness and use of MyPlate guidelines in making food choices. Procedia - Food Science, 2: 180-186 |
| [22] | Vereecken, C., Pedersen, T. P., Ojala, K., Krølner, R., Dzielska, A., Ahluwalia, N., Giacchi, M., Kelly, C. (2015). Fruit and vegetable consumption trends among adolescents from 2002 to 2010 in 33 countries. The European Journal of Public Health, Vol. 25, Supplement 2, 16-19. Retrieved from http://eurpub.oxfordjournals.org/content/25/suppl_2/16, http://eurpub.oxfordjournals.org/content/eurpub/25/suppl_2/16.full.pdf |
| [23] | Rakhshanderou, S., Ramezankhani, A., Mehraabi, Y., & Ghaffari, M. (2014). Determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption among Tehranian adolescents: A qualitative research. Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 19 (6): 482-489. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4155700/ |
| [24] | Takaoka, Y. and Kawakami, N. (2013). Fruit and vegetable consumption in adolescence and health in early adulthood: a longitudinal analysis of the Statistics Canada’s National Population Health Survey. BioMed Central Public Health, 13:1206. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-1206. Retrieved from http://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2458-13-1206 |
| [25] | WHO (2014). Increasing fruit and vegetable consumption to reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases. http://www.who.int/elena/titles/bbc/fruit_vegetables_ncds/en/ |
| [26] | WHO (2013). Global nutrition policy review: What does it take to scale up nutrition action? Geneva: World Health Organization. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/policies/global_nut_policyreview/en/ |
| [27] | Lachat C, Otchere S, Roberfroid D, Abdulai A, Seret FM, Milesevic J. (2013). Diet and physical activity for the prevention of noncommunicable diseases in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic policy review. PLoS Medicine, 10 (6): e1001465. |
