Low Daily Intake of Fruits and Vegetables in Rural and Urban Bangladesh: Influence of Socioeconomic and Demographic Factors, Social Food Beliefs and Behavioural Practices

Abstract

Bangladesh is facing a large burden of non-communicable diseases. As a possible remedy, the WHO/FAO recommends consuming 400 g or five servings of fruits and vegetables every day; however, only a small proportion of the population practices this. The present study sets out to determine the sociodemographic factors that affect this low intake of fruits and vegetables, and the roles that beliefs and behavioural practices play in influencing food consumption. Logistic and ordered logistic regressions were used to identify what sociodemographic factors are significantly influencing fruit and vegetable intake, and to explain the role of social food beliefs. It was found that in Bangladesh 75% of urban and 92% of rural populations consume less than five servings a day. While gender was not found to be a significant factor, housewives appeared to be more at risk of a lower intake of fruits and vegetables. People with higher income, higher education, and who are older were all less likely to have problems with a low intake of fruits and vegetables. Higher education assisted in attaining positive beliefs and behavioural practices regarding food, while residing in a rural community was found to be a significant constraint.