Intrapersonal Factors of Male and Female Adolescent Fruit and Vegetable Intake

Objectives: In this study, we examined the role of socio-demographic (race/ ethnicity, sex, grade, nativity, literacy, body mass index) and individual-level (normative beliefs, knowledge, perceived barriers, food preference, self-efficacy) factors on US adolescent fruit and vegetable consumption. Methods: We conducted hierarchical multiple regression analysis to determine the influence of factors on adolescent fruit and vegetable consumption in a nationally representative sample of 795 adolescents from the National Cancer Institute's 2014 Family Life, Activity, Sun, Health, and Eating (FLASHE) study. Results: Socio-demographic variables explained little variance (1.7%) whereas individual-level factors explained approximately 29% of the variance in adolescent fruit and vegetable consumption. Statistically significant (p < .001) predictors of adolescent fruit and vegetable consumption were food preference (beta = .253), self-efficacy (beta = .184), perceived barriers (beta = -.139), and normative beliefs (beta = .134). After controlling for sex, food preference and normative beliefs were stronger predictors of male, and perceived barriers was a stronger predictor of female, adolescent fruit and vegetable consumption. Conclusions: Understanding the predictive strength and sex-specific differences of intrapersonal variables on male and female adolescent fruit and vegetable consumption informs health promotion efforts to increase intake to recommended amounts.