Vegetable consumption among university students: Relationship between vegetable intake, knowledge of recommended vegetable servings and self-assessed achievement of vegetable intake recommendations:

Objectives:To investigate the relationship between vegetable intake, knowledge of recommended vegetable servings and self-assessed achievement of vegetable intake recommendations.Design and setting:Cross-sectional nutritional study in a university setting.Method:Students answered a set of standardised questions. Vegetable intake was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ). Knowledge of recommended vegetable servings was determined by asking how many servings of vegetables should be part of the daily diet. Self-assessed achievement of vegetable recommendation was operationalised using the behavioural stages of the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA).Results:Mean vegetable intake was 176 ± 165 g/day for women and 179 ± 153 g/day for men. Overall, 7.3% of women and 9.8% of men achieved the recommended vegetable intake. Recommended vegetable servings were correctly identified by 68.5% of women and 47.1% of men. About 34.1% of women and 23.5% of men believed they could achieve the recommended int...