{"title":"Barriers to consumption of fruits and vegetables and strategies to overcome them in low- and middle-income countries: a narrative review.","authors":"Sukhdeep Kaur","doi":"10.1017/S0954422422000166","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This review provides an overview of the barriers to the consumption of fruits and vegetables (FVs) as well as strategies to improve the intake of FVs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The importance of the consumption of FVs and its role in disease prevention are discussed briefly. Trends in the consumption of FVs in LMICs are also summarised. The WHO recommends that every individual should consume at least five servings or 400 grams of FVs per day. Epidemiological and clinical investigations have demonstrated that FVs contain numerous bioactive compounds with health-protecting activities. Despite their health benefits, the intake of FVs in LMICs remains low. Major barriers identified were socio-demographic factors, environmental conditions, individual and cultural factors, and macrosystem influences. These barriers may be lowered at the household, school, community, and national level through multi-component interventions including behaviour change communication (BCC) initiatives, nutrition education (NE), gardening initiatives, farm to institution programs (FIPs), food baskets, cash transfers, nutrition-agriculture policy and program linkages, and food-market environment-based strategies. This review has research implications due to the positive outcomes of strategies that lower such barriers and boost consumption of FVs in LMICs.</p>","PeriodicalId":54703,"journal":{"name":"Nutrition Research Reviews","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":5.1000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"3","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Nutrition Research Reviews","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954422422000166","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2022/8/25 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NUTRITION & DIETETICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 3
Abstract
This review provides an overview of the barriers to the consumption of fruits and vegetables (FVs) as well as strategies to improve the intake of FVs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The importance of the consumption of FVs and its role in disease prevention are discussed briefly. Trends in the consumption of FVs in LMICs are also summarised. The WHO recommends that every individual should consume at least five servings or 400 grams of FVs per day. Epidemiological and clinical investigations have demonstrated that FVs contain numerous bioactive compounds with health-protecting activities. Despite their health benefits, the intake of FVs in LMICs remains low. Major barriers identified were socio-demographic factors, environmental conditions, individual and cultural factors, and macrosystem influences. These barriers may be lowered at the household, school, community, and national level through multi-component interventions including behaviour change communication (BCC) initiatives, nutrition education (NE), gardening initiatives, farm to institution programs (FIPs), food baskets, cash transfers, nutrition-agriculture policy and program linkages, and food-market environment-based strategies. This review has research implications due to the positive outcomes of strategies that lower such barriers and boost consumption of FVs in LMICs.
期刊介绍:
Nutrition Research Reviews offers a comprehensive overview of nutritional science today. By distilling the latest research and linking it to established practice, the journal consistently delivers the widest range of in-depth articles in the field of nutritional science. It presents up-to-date, critical reviews of key topics in nutrition science advancing new concepts and hypotheses that encourage the exchange of fundamental ideas on nutritional well-being in both humans and animals.