Fruit consumption, its determinants and attitudes among undergraduates

Year 2019, Volume: 3 Issue: 1, 50 - 53, 14.03.2019

Umali Sathsarani Herath

https://doi.org/10.31015/jaefs.2019.1.11

Cited By: 3

Abstract

Fruits, being a good
source of nutrients, can be used to fulfil the daily requirement of nutrients.
However, the statistics of Food and Agriculture Organization and World Health
Organization state that the worldwide per capita consumption of fruits and
vegetables is estimated to be less than 20 to 50 percent of the minimum daily
recommended intake. The health and well-being of the future generation of a
country are critical in preventing malnutrition and chronic diseases. A study
was carried out to find out the daily intake of fruits, barriers for
consumption and other patterns in consumption among undergraduates. Moreover,
the study focused on identifying knowledge on nutrition and opinions of
undergraduates on fruit production. 50 students from the Faculty of
Agricultural Sciences, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka were randomly
selected and given a self- administered questionnaire. The daily intake of a
majority of students existed between 50-100g and most consumed fruits in fresh
form. Unavailability in the market or the limited access was the major barrier
for the intake of sufficient amount of fruits. The study concluded that the
daily intake of fruits of undergraduates is less than the recommended level.
Extension services and constant market prices can overcome the problems in
fruit production.

Keywords

Fruits, Undergraduates, Fruit consumption, Barriers to fruit intake

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