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Intake of fruit, vegetables and milk products and correlates among school boys in Saudi Arabia

  • Ali Saad R. Alsubaie EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: May 9, 2018

Abstract

Background

Healthy dietary behaviors have a significant impact on children’s health and development. Diets high in fruit and vegetables demonstrate a strong and consistent pattern for decreasing the risk of and providing benefits against cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and many cancers. Yet, little is known about the pattern of fruit, vegetables and dairy products consumption among children in Saudi Arabia.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to investigate the consumption of fruit, vegetables and milk products and their dietary correlates among school boys in Saudi Arabia.

Materials and methods

A multistage stratified cluster cross-sectional survey, using a pre-tested questionnaire was conducted among school-children. The study sample comprised of 725 school students from ten randomly selected schools in Saudi Arabia.

Results

All surveyed schools (100%) neither provide nor sell fruit, fresh juices or vegetables on their premises. During regular weekdays, the majority of the children did not consume fruit (69%) and vegetables (71.4%) on daily basis. More than one third (32.4%) of the children did not consume dairy products daily. The daily consumption of fruit and dairy products were associated with young age [odds ratio (OR) = 1.5, confidence interval (CI): 1.1–2.2, p = 0.040] and (OR = 2.4, CI: 1.6–3.7, p = 0.001), respectively. Daily consumption of fruit was positively associated with daily consumption of vegetables (OR = 6.6, CI: 4.5–9.5, p = 0.001). Also, daily consumption of vegetables was positively associated with daily consumption of dairy products (OR = 1.5, CI: 1.1–2.2, p = 0.040) and inversely correlated with daily consumption of sweets (OR = 0.6, C.I: 0.4–0.9, p = 0.012). Moreover, the daily consumption of dairy products was associated with consuming high fat food daily (OR = 1.7, CI: 1.2–2.4, p = 0.002).

Conclusion

The findings indicated that a high percentage of children in Saudi Arabia had an unhealthy low consumption of fruit, vegetables and milk products. Thus, an intervention program to promote healthy dietary patterns is highly recommended. Improving school environments and establishing school-based nutrition programs are extremely needed to promote healthy dietary behaviors among this age group.

  1. Conflict of interest: The author declares no potential conflicts of interests.

  2. Ethical approval statement: The Department of Education at Albaha province was visited and proved the study. The study aims and protocol were explained to the schools’ principals and teachers to allow and encourage students to participate in this study. Moreover, the study aims and questionnaire were explained to students. Students’ participation in the study was totally voluntary. Moreover, there was no intervention administered to the participants.

  3. Funding sources: This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agencies.

  4. Contributors: Ali Alsubaie planned the study, analyzed the data, and prepared the manuscript and will be the guarantor.

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Received: 2018-03-06
Accepted: 2018-03-22
Published Online: 2018-05-09

©2018 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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