PROMOTION OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLE CONSUMPTION IN CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS THROUGH THE USE OF MINIMALLY PROCESSED PRODUCTS

Despite the health benefits of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables less than one fifth of children and adolescents meet recommendations. Consumers demand an increasingly varied range of high quality food together with food safety assurance, and at the same time they require food that should be quick and easy to prepare. This scenario created an opportunity for a new category of products: minimally processed fruits and vegetables. The objective of this study was to investigate fresh fruits and vegetables appreciation and consumption at Oporto high schools and to evaluate the reasons for their options/barriers for choosing or not choosing these products. The potential impact of increasing availability of fresh cut fruits and vegetables to the balance of the diet was also investigated. This was performed by applying a questionnaire to students, about the use of these products and the reasons for their options/barriers for choosing this kind of products. Some barriers were mentioned by responders to justify the low consumption of traditional fruits, including low availability, lack of variety available and absence of eating habit. Concerning vegetables and soup the main reasons pointed out were disliking the taste and absence of eating habits. Regarding fresh cut fruits and vegetables the referred barriers were unavailability at school and lack of confidence in this kind of products. Promotion of this new category of products is necessary among, children and adolescents, parents and school employees to show the potential role of minimal processed products in improving the nutritional food intake.