EXPERTS, in a new report, said about two of every five Africans consume less than seven portions of vegetables and fruits every week, although fruits and vegetables are protective of health, including cardiovascular disease like stroke, heart disease, hypertension and heart failure, as well as deaths.
In the study, the researchers found that individuals exposed to harmful lifestyle factors for cardiovascular diseases (including smoking, alcohol consumption and physical inactivity) are less likely to consume fruits and vegetables frequently.
The fruit and vegetable consumption levels did not differ by sex and age across the participants, but country-wise, the number of participants with a high total frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption was 2,404 (34.5 percent) in Nigeria; 1,706 (24.5 percent) in South Africa; 1,458 (21.0 percent) in Ghana; 764 (11.0 percent) in Burkina Faso and 625 (9.0 percent) in Kenya.
Male participants were more likely than female participants to have higher odds of having high total fruit and vegetable consumption, but a family history of CVD was associated with lower odds of a high frequency of total fruit and vegetable consumption.
Participants in the study residing in urban areas had higher odds of high total fruit and vegetable consumption compared with rural residents.
In contrast, those with at least secondary school education had lower odds of high total fruit and vegetable consumption, compared with those with lower forms of formal education.
The researcher, in the latest edition of the International Journal of Epidemiology, harmonised large datasets and assessed factors associated with the frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption from 20,443 participants across five African countries (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and Nigeria) from the Cardiovascular H3Africa Innovation Resource (CHAIR) in Africa project.
These are the Stroke Investigative Research and Educational Network (SIREN) and Africa Wits-INDEPTH Partnership for Genomic Research (AWI-Gen) studies.
The total frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption (in portions per week) was classified as ‘low’, ‘moderate’ and ‘high’. Factors associated with the total frequency of fruit and vegetable consumption (using ‘low’ consumption as reference) were also estimated.
According to the study, the frequency of total fruit and vegetable consumption was 10.0 portions per week and participants with a family history of cardiovascular disease [moderate and high], current smokers, current alcohol users and physically inactive participants were less likely to consume fruits and vegetables frequently.
But the World Health Organisation’s recommendation is that individuals should have 400g/day (five portions per day) of fruits and vegetables.
They, therefore, called for culturally suitable interventions targeted at immediate and remote factors associated with fruit and vegetable consumption that might help prevent or delay the onset of diet-related cardiovascular disease.
“This will contribute to reducing the burden of NCDs, thereby improving the health of Africans in line with the African Union 2063 agenda,” they declared.