Suboptimal Intake of Fruits and Vegetables in Nine Selected Countries of the World Health Organization European Region
RESEARCH BRIEF — Volume 20 — November 16, 2023
PEER REVIEWED
Figure.
National prevalence of daily servings of fruit and vegetables (0, 1-2, 3-4, ≥5), by education (A) and by receipt of advice from a health care professional to eat at least 5 daily servings of fruits or vegetables (B). Education level was determined by using national education categories mapped to UNESCO’s (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s) International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) (12). ISCED provides a comprehensive framework of uniform and internationally agreed definitions to facilitate comparisons of education systems across countries. Value in parentheses after country name is P value.
| A. By education | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Country | Groups | Daily servings of fruits and vegetables | P for difference | |||
| 0 | 1–2 | 3–4 | ≥5 | |||
| Armenia | Less than high school | 9.3 | 43.5 | 22.4 | 24.7 | <.001 |
| High school | 4.7 | 37.8 | 28.1 | 29.4 | ||
| College/university/postgraduate | 2.0 | 38.6 | 35.6 | 23.9 | ||
| Azerbaijan | Less than high school | 7.7 | 48.6 | 23.6 | 20.1 | <.001 |
| High school | 8.0 | 43.0 | 25.7 | 23.3 | ||
| College/university/postgraduate | 2.7 | 44.0 | 26.6 | 26.7 | ||
| Belarus | Less than high school | 6.2 | 42.6 | 25.2 | 26.0 | .02 |
| High school | 6.7 | 40.9 | 26.6 | 25.9 | ||
| College/university/postgraduate | 3.0 | 38.3 | 30.6 | 28.1 | ||
| Georgia | Less than high school | 2.8 | 30.4 | 28.5 | 38.4 | .88 |
| High school | 4.8 | 30.0 | 30.0 | 35.2 | ||
| College/university/postgraduate | 2.3 | 25.8 | 30.1 | 41.9 | ||
| Kyrgyzstan | Less than high school | 14.9 | 48.9 | 20.1 | 16.1 | .008 |
| High school | 10.3 | 41.9 | 21.9 | 25.9 | ||
| College/university/postgraduate | 13.8 | 27.4 | 27.8 | 31.1 | ||
| Republic of Moldova |
Less than high school | 5.4 | 32.4 | 33.3 | 28.8 | .002 |
| High school | 2.8 | 29.5 | 32.0 | 35.7 | ||
| College/university/postgraduate | 2.6 | 23.2 | 34.8 | 39.3 | ||
| Tajikistan | Less than high school | 1.9 | 35.6 | 29.3 | 33.2 | .01 |
| High school | 1.8 | 27.7 | 31.0 | 39.5 | ||
| College/university/postgraduate | 4.1 | 19.7 | 26.4 | 49.8 | ||
| Turkey | Less than high school | 12.1 | 61.4 | 15.0 | 11.5 | .08 |
| High school | 10.2 | 62.7 | 14.7 | 12.4 | ||
| College/university/postgraduate | 7.1 | 60.6 | 19.3 | 13.1 | ||
| Uzbekistan | Less than high school | 1.0 | 35.5 | 29.8 | 33.8 | .38 |
| High school | 1.5 | 33.9 | 32.1 | 32.5 | ||
| College/university/postgraduate | 1.8 | 30.8 | 33.6 | 33.9 | ||
| B. By receipt of advice from health care professional | ||||||
| Armenia | Yes | 4.4 | 39.2 | 25.8 | 30.6 | .26 |
| No | 6.5 | 41.0 | 27.9 | 24.5 | ||
| Azerbaijan | Yes | 5.6 | 38.5 | 25.0 | 31.0 | .61 |
| No | 8.1 | 35.6 | 26.5 | 29.8 | ||
| Belarus | Yes | 5.4 | 40.5 | 26.6 | 27.4 | .83 |
| No | 5.7 | 40.5 | 28.1 | 25.8 | ||
| Georgia | Yes | 4.3 | 29.4 | 28.3 | 38.1 | .79 |
| No | 3.4 | 28.4 | 30.1 | 38.1 | ||
| Kyrgyzstan | Yes | 12.1 | 38.5 | 22.1 | 27.3 | .67 |
| No | 11.1 | 40.1 | 24.0 | 24.9 | ||
| Republic of Moldova | Yes | 2.2 | 27.4 | 34.8 | 35.6 | <.001 |
| No | 5.1 | 30.4 | 29.6 | 34.9 | ||
| Tajikistan | Yes | 1.4 | 25.2 | 29.4 | 44.0 | <.001 |
| No | 4.1 | 34.8 | 31.0 | 30.1 | ||
| Turkey | Yes | 7.1 | 63.3 | 19.6 | 10.0 | .005 |
| No | 11.0 | 61.5 | 14.7 | 12.7 | ||
| Turkmenistan | Yes | 1.3 | 8.4 | 15.1 | 75.2 | .80 |
| No | 0.0 | 7.7 | 10.0 | 82.3 | ||
| Uzbekistan | Yes | 1.1 | 30.4 | 31.3 | 37.2 | <.001 |
| No | 2.5 | 42.4 | 34.3 | 20.8 | ||
The opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors’ affiliated institutions.