Fruit and Vegetable Consumption of College Students: What is the Role of Food Culture?

Abstract

Our primary objective is to assess the role of culture by linking college students’ current consumption of fruits and vegetables with their produce consumption levels while with family. Using a Tobit model, we analyzed data from an online survey with college students. Family consumption of fruits was highly predictive of the individual’s consumption of fruits. For each unit increase in the reported consumption of fruits (vegetables) with the family, the respondents’ fruit (vegetable) consumption at school increased by 0.65 (0.30) units compared to the base consumption level of 1.95 (1.82) times of fruit intake per day.