Low-Income Young Adults Report Increased Variety in Fruit and Vegetable Intake Following a Stage-Tailored Intervention

Objective The study objective was to determine if a fruit and vegetable (FV) intervention, previously demonstrated to increase amount of FV/day, also increased the variety consumed. Methods Variety in FV intake was assessed using a 26-item FV (12 fruit and 14 vegetable) food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) on 1255 low-income adults, ages 18-24 years (control=684 vs. experimental=571) following completion of a stage-tailored intervention to increase FV intakes. The FFQ was administered at 12-months to assess how often and bow much participants ate of each item over the previous year. Variety was the number of different types of F and V consumed. Results At completion, the experimental group versus the control group had significantly greater variety in number of fruit items (9.5±0.1 vs. 9.1±0.1, 0.001) and vegetable items (11.5±0.1 vs. 11.2±0.1, p≤0.001) and vegetable items (11.5±0.1 vs. 11.2±0.1, p\u3c0.01) as well as greater total intake of fruits (2.73±0.09 vs. 2.33±0.11 cups, p\u3c0.01) and vegetables (1.87±0.10 vs. 1.62±0.01 cups, p≤0.001) and a greater consumption of the categories of seasonal fruits (p\u3c0.05), juices (p\u3c0.01) and high β-carotene vegetables (p≤0.001). Conclusions This is one of the first studies to document an increase in FV variety as a result of an educational intervention for low-income young adults