Diet and healthy weight: monitoring report 2019

Child fruit and vegetable consumption

Scottish Health Survey

Latest results

• In 2018, 15% of children aged 2-15 met the five-a-day recommendation for consumption of fruit and vegetables. This figure shows little variation over time, lying between 12% and 15% each year since 2008.
• Boys and girls were equally likely to meet the recommendations, with 15% of girls and 16% of boys having done so.
• The proportion of children consuming no fruit and vegetables has remained fairly constant since 2008. In 2018, 10% of children aged 2-15 (11% of boys and 9% of girls) consumed no fruit or vegetables on a typical day.
• In 2018, children consumed an average of 2.8 portions of fruit and vegetables a day (same for girls and boys), a figure which has varied very little since 2008.
• Girls aged 13-15 tended to eat less fruit and vegetables than younger girls (a mean of 2.4 portions, compared with means of between 2.6 and 3.3 for the other age groups). For boys, lowest levels of consumption were in the 11-12 age group (2.5 portions a day) and highest for those aged 2-4 (3.1 portions a day).

Figure 9. Children fruit and vegetable consumption by sex, 2008 to 2018

• In 2018, fruit and vegetable consumption (5-a-day) was higher in Scotland's least deprived areas compared to the most deprived, but this difference was not significant. Nineteen per cent of children living in the least deprived areas met the recommendation compared to 14% of children living in the most deprived.

Figure 10. Children fruit and vegetable consumption by area deprivation, 2012-2018

Definitions
A portion is defined as the conventional 80g of a fruit or vegetable.

Geography available
Scotland level.

Equalities data
Breakdowns by most equalities groups are possible. Breakdowns by age, sex, socio-economic status (SIMD) and disability (limiting long-term illness) are available in the SHeS 2018 supplementary tables

Rationale for including children fruit and vegetable consumption

These data are useful to monitor changes in the proportion of Scotland's children population who meet the 5-a-day recommendation for consumption of fruit and vegetables. Different patterns amongst girls and boys of different ages can be identified.

Factors influencing children fruit and vegetable consumption

Availability, cost, and access to fruit and vegetables.