Time-trend analysis of fruit and vegetable intake in Hong Kong, 2004–2016

Objectives: In 2005, the Hong Kong government launched a series of large-scale dietary promotion campaigns aiming to increase fruit and vegetable intake. This study aimed to investigate changes in mean fruit and vegetable intake in the population between 2004 and 2016. Study design: Time-trend analysis. Methods: Fruit and vegetable intake data from adults aged 18–64 years between 2004 and 2016 were extracted from government online databases. Descriptive analyses were conducted. One-way analysis of variance was employed to compare population-weighted age-specific and sex-specific mean fruit and vegetable intake at 95% confidence levels in SPSS. Results: Between 2004 and 2016, mean fruit intake (males: 0.70–1.22 servings/day; females: 0.95–1.59 servings/day) and mean vegetable intake (males: 1.80–2.51 servings/day; females: 2.10–2.83 servings/day) among Hong Kong adults across all age groups were lower than recommended. Adults aged 45–54 years and over ate more fruit than younger adults. However, decreasing fruit intake trends were observed among both females and males across all ages. The decreased mean fruit intake among males aged 35–54 years and females aged 35–44 years and below has become statistically significant in more recent years, which may indicate a slow transitioning toward significantly lower mean fruit intake across these age groups. Although statistically non-significant, increasing vegetable intake trends were observed among adults aged 35–44 years and below, which may indicate a slow transitioning process toward significantly higher mean vegetable intake among these age groups. However, there is concern about the downward vegetable intake trends among adults aged 45–64 years. Conclusions: More research is needed to investigate the effectiveness of dietary promotion campaigns, especially in terms of promotion coverage and population age ranges. More effective strategies are needed to increase fruit and vegetable intake in the population.