Working Paper Series

Abstract: Fruits and vegetables are important parts of healthy eating and they provide excellent sources of vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber in our diet. According to the WHO, inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables may contribute to as much as 14% of gastrointestinal cancer deaths and 11% of deaths resulted from ischemic heart disease worldwide. Higher risk of all-cause mortality is associated with insufficient fruits and vegetables consumption. Since 2011, Hong Kong has been promoting a 2 Plus 3 a day diet campaign aiming to raise the public's awareness on consuming a minimum of 2 portions of fruits and 3 portions of vegetables daily. Recent statistics showed that 81% of people aged 18 - 64 failed to meet this requirement. This finding suggested a strong demand to identify the underlying determinants that affect fruits and vegetables consumption behaviour that led to this result. This paper focuses on investigating these determinants among university students in Hong Kong. Surveys were conducted in 2015 with 600 participants randomly selected from universities across Hong Kong. The results indicated that 87% of students consuming fruits and vegetables regularly were due to the health benefits associated with fruits and vegetables, almost half of the students (47%) reported that taste of fruits and vegetables had led to their consumptions. Other factors such as gender, accessibility and parents' consumption behaviour were also found to play a role as determinants. Meanwhile, taste, cooking methods and texture of fruits and vegetables were found to play significant roles in preventing their consumptions.