Household educational level as a determinant of consumption of raw vegetables among male and female adolescents

Background. This study aimed to examine the association between household e ducational level and consumption of raw vegetables among adolescents and to assess the influence of other determinants on the association, such as fam ily factors, school achievement, health behavior, meal pattern, and weight- related factors. A further aim was to investigate whether the associations were the same for male and female adolescents. Methods. The study is based on data from the School Health Promotion Survey 1997-1998. Data were collected by a classroom-administered questionnaire, which was completed by 76,201 secondary school pupils. The study recorded t he consumption of raw vegetables, but not the consumption of cooked vegetab les. Multivariate logistic regressions were used in the analyses. Results. A clear positive association between educational level of the hous ehold and daily consumption of raw vegetables was found among adolescents. The adolescent's own school achievement explained part of the association b etween household educational level and consumption of raw vegetables. Other factors explained the association to a small degree, with meal pattern and weight factors having no effect. The associations were similar for both ge nders. Conclusions. Educational level in the household is an important determinant of consumption of raw vegetables. A household with a high educational leve l will also presumably contain adolescents who have good school achievement , another strong predictor of frequent consumption of raw vegetables. (C) 2 001 American Health Foundation and Academic Press.