Some Factors affecting consumption of Fruit and vegetable by elderly people in Tehran

This study was done to assess the some factors which influenceon fruit and vegetable consumption among Iranian's elderly. This study was a cross sectional study which wasdone on 400 elderly people through a two stages sampling method. 10elderly centers were selected from all of elderly centers in Tehran. Duringsecond stage, a systematic random sampling method was used. Data wascollected using multi sectional questionnaire (Knowledge, perceived benefitsand barriers, stage of readiness, daily servings of fruit and vegetable inmeals, social support). One-way analysis of variance and regression analysiswere used to analysis the data. Fruit and vegetable intake among participations was 1.75± 1.12 servings/ day. There was no difference between men and women regarding the fruit andvegetable consumption (P>0.05). Our findings showed economic problems were themajor barrier for fruit and vegetable intake and accessibility to sellers was the majorfarilitator. Regression analysis indicated that, a higher fruit and vegetableconsumption was significantly associated with higher knowledge, safe life style, selfefficacy and lower perceived barriers. Elderly people in more advanced stages ofchange of attitudes and health knowledge and safe life style were more likely toconsume suitable amounts of fruits and vegetables in their diets. There are several factors which effect on fruit and vegetableconsumption in Iranian's elderlie's diet. Identifying these factors could helphealth educators to design effective interventions.