Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Original Article
  • Published:

Personal, social and environmental predictors of daily fruit and vegetable intake in 11-year-old children in nine European countries

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 62, pages 834–841 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

To investigate potential personal, social and physical environmental predictors of daily fruit intake and daily vegetable intake in 11-year-old boys and girls in nine European countries.

Subjects:

The total sample size was 13 305 (90.4% participation rate).

Results:

Overall, 43.2% of the children reported to eat fruit every day, 46.1% reported to eat vegetables every day. Daily fruit intake and daily vegetable intake was mainly associated with knowledge of the national recommendations, positive self-efficacy, positive liking and preference, parental modeling and demand and bringing fruit to school (odds ratio between 1.40 and 2.42, P<0.02). These factors were associated fairly consistently with daily fruit intake across all nine European countries, implying that a rather uniform intervention strategy to promote fruit can be used across Europe. For vegetables, the pattern was, however, less consistent. Differences between countries in cooking and preparing vegetables might be responsible for this larger diversity.

Conclusions:

This study showed that especially a combination of personal and social factors is related to daily fruit and vegetable intake in schoolchildren. This shows that a comprehensive multilevel intervention strategy based upon a series of individual and social correlates will be most promising in the promotion of daily fruit and vegetable intake in children.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Armitage CJ, Conner M (2000). Social cognition models and health behaviour: a structured review. Psych Health 15, 173–189.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baranowski T, Lin LS, Wetter DW, Resnicow K, Hearn MD (1997). Theory as mediating variables: why aren’t community interventions working as desired? Ann Epidemiol 7, s89–s95.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bere E, Klepp KI (2004). Correlates of fruit and vegetable intake among Norwegian schoolchildren: parental and self-reports. Public Health Nutr 7, 991–998.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Birch LL (1990). Development of food acceptance patterns. Dev Psych 26, 515–519.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birch LL, Fisher JO (2000). Mothers’ child-feeding practices influence daughters’ eating and weight. Am J Clin Nutr 71, 1054–1061.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Bogers RP, Brug J, van Assema P, Dagnelie PC (2004). Explaining fruit and vegetable consumption: the theory of planned behaviour and misconception of personal intake levels. Appetite 42, 157–166.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brug J, van Lenthe FJ (2005). Environmental Determinants and Interventions for Physical Activity, Nutrition and Smoking: A Review. Den Haag, ZonMW.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cullen KW, Baranowski T, Owens E, Marsh T, Rittenberry L, deMoor C (2003). Availability, accessibility, and preferences for fruit, 100% fruit juice, and vegetables influence children's dietary behaviour. Health Educ Behav 30, 615–626.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cullen KW, Baranowski T, Rittenberry L, Cosart C, Hebert D, deMoor C (2001). Child-reported family and peer influences on fruit, juice and vegetable consumption: reliability and validity of measures. Health Educ Res 16, 187–200.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • De Bourdeaudhuij I, Klepp KI, Due P, Perez Rodrigo C, de Almeida MDV, Wind M et al. (2005). Reliability of a questionnaire to measure personal, social and environmental correlates of fruit and vegetable intake in 10–11 year old children in 5 European countries. Public Health Nutr 8, 189–200.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • De Bourdeaudhuij I, Van Oost P (2000). Personal and family determinants of dietary behaviour in adolescents and their parents. Psychol Health 15, 751–770.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Domel SB, Thompson WO, Davis HC, Baranowski T, Leonard SB, Baranowski J (1996). Psychosocial predictors of fruit and vegetable consumption among elementary school children. Health Educ Res 11, 299–308.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibson EL, Wardle J, Watts CJ (1998). Fruit and vegetable consumption, nutritional knowledge and beliefs in mothers and children. Appetite 31, 205–228.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Hanson NI, Neumark-Sztainer D, Eisenberg ME, Story M, Wall M (2005). Associations between parental report of the home food environment and adolescent intakes of fruits, vegetables and dairy foods. Public Health Nutr 8, 77–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haraldsdóttir J, Thórsdóttir I, De Almeida M, Maes L, Perez-Rodrigo C, Elmadfa I et al. (2005). Validity and reproducibility of fruit and vegetable intake in European school children measured by a precoded questionnaire. Ann Nutr Metab 49, 221–227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hearn MD, Baranoswki T, Baranoswki J (1998). Environmental influences on dietary behaviour among children: availability and accessibility of fruits and vegetables enable consumption. J Health Educ 29, 26–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joshipura KJ, Hu FB, Manson JE, Stampfer MJ, Rimm EB, Speizer FE et al. (2001). The effect of fruit and vegetable intake on risk for coronary heart disease. Ann Intern Med 134, 1106–1114.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Klepp KI, Perez Rodrigo C, De Bourdeaudhuij I, Due P, Elmadfa I, Haraldsdóttir J et al. (2005). Promoting fruit and vegetable consumption among European schoolchildren: rationale, conceptualization and design of the pro children project. Ann Nutr Metab 49, 212–220.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kratt P, Reynolds K, Shewchuk R (2000). The role of availability as a moderator of family fruit and vegetable consumption. Health Educ Behav 27, 471–482.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kremers SP, Brug J, de Vries H, Engels RCME (2003). Parenting style and adolescent fruit consumption. Appetite 41, 43–50.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lien N, Jacobs DR, Klepp KI (2002). Exploring predictors of eating behaviour among adolescents by gender and socio-economic status. Public Health Nutr 5, 671–681.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lien N, Lytle LA, Klepp KI (2001). Stability in consumption of fruit, vegetables, and sugary foods in a cohort from age 14–21. Prev Med 33, 217–226.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mikkilä V, Räsänen L, Raitakari OT, Pietinen P, Viikari J (2004). Longitudinal changes in diet from childhood into adulthood with respect to risk of cardiovascular diseases: the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study. Eur J Clin Nutr 58, 1038–1045.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Neumark-Sztainer D, Wall M, Perry C, Story M (2003). Correlates of fruit and vegetable intake among adolescents. Findings from Project EAT. Prev Med 37, 198–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paolini M, Sapone A, Canistro D, Antonelli MA, Chieco P (2003). Diet and risk of cancer. Lancet 361, 257–258.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patrick H, Nicklas TA (2005). A review of family and social determinants of children's eating patterns and diet quality. J Am Coll Nutr 24, 83–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perez-Rodrigo C, Ribas L, Serra-Majem L, Aranceta J (2003). Food preferences of Spanish children and young people: the enKid study. Eur J Clin Nutr 57, S45–S48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry CL, Bishop DB, Taylor GL, Davis M, Story M, Gray C et al. (2004). A randomized school trial of environmental strategies to encourage fruit and vegetable consumption among children. Health Educ Behav 31, 65–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pesa JA, Turner LW (2001). Fruit and vegetable intake and weight-control behaviors among US youth. Am J Health Behav 25, 3–9.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Resnicow K, DavisHearn M, Smith M, Baranowski T, Lin LS, Baranowski J et al. (1997). Social-cognitive predictors of fruit and vegetable intake in children. Health Psychol 16, 272–276.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reynolds KD, Hinton AW, Shewchuk R, Hickey CA (1999). Social cognitive model of fruit and vegetable consumption in elementary school children. J Nutr Educ 31, 23–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sandeno C, Wolf G, Drake T, Reicks M (2000). Behavioral strategies to increase fruit and vegetable intake by fourth- through sixth-grade students. J Am Diet Assoc 100, 828–830.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sandvik C, De Bourdeaudhuij I, Due P, Brug J, Wind M, Bere E et al. (2005). Personal, social and environmental factors regarding fruit and vegetable intake among schoolchildren in nine European countries. Ann Nutr Metab 49, 255–266.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Swinburn B, Egger G, Raza F (1999). Dissecting obesogenic environments: the development and application of a framework for identifying and prioritizing environmental interventions for obesity. Prev Med 29, 563–570.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Vereecken C, Ojala K, Delgrande Jordan M (2004). Eating habits. In: Currie C, et al. (eds). Young People's Health in Context. HBSC-Study: International Report from the 2001/02 Survey. WHO Policy Series: Health Policy for Children and Adolescents Issue 4, World Health Organization, Copenhagen, pp 110–119.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wardle J, Carnell S, Cooke L (2005). Parental control over feeding and children's fruit and vegetable intake: how are they related? J Am Diet Assoc 105, 227–232.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wardle J, Herrera ML, Cooke L, Gibson EL (2003). Modifying children's food preferences: the effects of exposure and reward on acceptance of an unfamiliar vegetable. Eur J Clin Nutr 57, 341–348.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wind M, Bobelijn K, De Bourdeaudhuij I, Klepp KI, Brug J (2005). A qualitative exploration of determinants of fruit and vegetable intake among 10- and 11-year-old schoolchildren in the low countries. Ann Nutr Metab 49, 228–235.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yngve A, Wolf AM, Poortvliet E, Elmadfa I, Brug J, Ehrenblad B et al. (2005). Intake of fruit and vegetables in a sample of 11 year old school-children in 9 European countries: the pro children cross-sectional survey. Ann Nutr Metab 49, 236–245.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Young EM, Fors SW, Hayes DM (2004). Associations between perceived parent behaviors and middle school student fruit and vegetable consumption. J Nutr Educ Behav 36, 2–8.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The project ‘Promoting and Sustaining Health through Increased Vegetable and Fruit Consumption among European Schoolchildren’ (Pro Children) is funded under the Fifth Framework Program of the European Commission, Thematic program Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources, key action Food, Nutrition and Health (QLK1-CT-2001-00547). The Pro Children consortium consists of the following partners: Knut-Inge Klepp (Coordinator), Faculty of Medicine, Department of Nutrition, University of Oslo, Norway; Carmen Perez Rodrigo, Unidad de Nutricion Comunitaria, Bilbao, Spain; Inga Thorsdottir, Unit for Nutrition Research, Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland; Pernille Due, Department of Social Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Denmark; Maria Daniel Vaz de Almeida, Faculdade de Ciências da Nutrição e Alimentação da Universidade do Porto, Portugal; Ibrahim Elmadfa, Institute of Nutrition, University of Vienna, Austria; Jóhanna Haraldsdóttir, Research Department of Human Nutrition, Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Copenhagen, Denmark; Johannes Brug, EMGO Institute, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Michael Sjöström, Unit for Preventive Nutrition, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Ilse De Bourdeaudhuij, Department of Movement and Sport Sciences, Ghent University, Belgium.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Movement and Sport Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    I De Bourdeaudhuij

  2. EMGO Institute, VU University Medical Centre, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    S te Velde & J Brug

  3. Department of Social Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    P Due & M Rasmussen

  4. Department of Public Health, Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    M Wind

  5. Department of Education and Health Promotion, Faculty of Psychology, Research Centre for Health Promotion, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

    C Sandvik

  6. Department of Public Health, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    L Maes

  7. Institute for Nutritional Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    A Wolf & I Elmadfa

  8. Community Nutrition Unit of Bilbao, Bilbao, Spain

    C Perez Rodrigo

  9. Unit for Preventive Nutrition, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    A Yngve

  10. Unit for Nutrition Research, Landspitali University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland

    I Thorsdottir

  11. Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    B Franchini

  12. Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    K-I Klepp

Authors
  1. I De Bourdeaudhuij
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. S te Velde
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J Brug
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. P Due
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. M Wind
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. C Sandvik
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. L Maes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. A Wolf
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. C Perez Rodrigo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  10. A Yngve
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  11. I Thorsdottir
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  12. M Rasmussen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  13. I Elmadfa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  14. B Franchini
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  15. K-I Klepp
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to I De Bourdeaudhuij.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

De Bourdeaudhuij, I., te Velde, S., Brug, J. et al. Personal, social and environmental predictors of daily fruit and vegetable intake in 11-year-old children in nine European countries. Eur J Clin Nutr 62, 834–841 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602794

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602794

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links