Publication: Understanding the reasons behind inadequate daily intake of fruits and vegetables in final year nutrition and dietetics students: a qualitative research
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Date
2025-01
Authors
Mahfuz, Athirah Zarith Sofea Ahmad
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Abstract
Fruits and vegetables (FV) are a vital part of a healthy diet. According to the Malaysian Dietary Guidelines (2010), individuals should consume at least five servings of FV daily. This equates to two servings of fruits and three servings of vegetables, echoing the WHO 2003 recommendations. Based on their study area and nature of the degree, the final-year students enrolled in Nutrition and Dietetics programmes are expected to have better eating habits than their peers. However, studies found that students with high nutritional knowledge do not necessarily translate to healthy eating habits due to various factors and challenges. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to understand the reasons behind intake of FV in final-year Nutrition and Dietetics students. Individual interview sessions using Zoom were conducted with 11 female final-year students of the Nutrition (n=7) and Dietetics (n=4) programme. Interview time took approximately an hour per person. The interviews were conducted to uncover the influences, barriers and opinions that influenced their current daily intake of FV. The interviews were recorded and transcribed and checked before the thematic analyses. The themes and subthemes include; the current lack of dietary FV intake, personal perceptions and feelings towards FV intake, limitations in surroundings on eating habits; insufficient FV variety and availability and other barriers to practising healthy eating habits; and suggestions on improving FV intake. In conclusion, the study found that various factors cause participants to have inadequate daily intake of FV.