Disparities in fresh fruit and vegetable intake by sociodemographic and behavioural factors among adults in China

OBJECTIVE: To measure the associations of sociodemographic and behavioural factors with fruit and vegetable consumption among adults in China. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: A 2015 wave of the China Health and Nutrition Survey. PARTICIPANTS: Totally, 11 910 adults aged 18 to 64 years. RESULTS: Adjusted log binomial regression analyses showed that adults with higher income levels had higher fruit intake than those with low income levels (medium income group, risk ratio (RR): 1·28; 95 % CI: 1·16, 1·41; high income group, RR: 1·58; 95 % CI: 1·43, 1·74). Current smokers had lower fruit intake than non-smokers (RR: 0·86; 95 % CI: 0·77, 0·96). Adults living in southern China had higher vegetable intake (RR: 1·88; 95 % CI: 1·76, 2·01) but lower fruit intake (RR: 0·85; 95 % CI: 0·79, 0·91) than adults in northern China. With increasing age, adults had higher fruit intake (50–64 years, RR: 1·20; 95 % CI: 1·09, 1·33; reference category 18–34 years) and higher vegetable intake (35–49 years, RR: 1·13; 95 % CI: 1·05, 1·22; 50–64 years, RR: 1·22; 95 % CI: 1·13, 1·31). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings identify a range of sociodemographic and behavioural factors associated with fruit and vegetable consumption among Chinese adults. They also point to the need for public health nutrition interventions for socially disadvantaged populations in China.