The document summarizes a focus group study that explored the fruit and vegetable consumption behaviors of undergraduate students. It found that the majority of young people do not eat enough fruits and vegetables, which can significantly impact health. Through focus groups, several key barriers to consumption emerged, including cost, difficulties meeting serving requirements, perceptions that fruits and vegetables are unhealthy, and issues with preparation and storage. The researchers plan to develop interventions based on these findings to modify perceptions and address the barriers identified.

1. Understanding the fruit and vegetable
consumption behaviour of
undergraduates: A focus group study.
Emily Kothe & Dr Barbara Mullan
Emily Kothe

2. Background
Inadequate F&V consumption accounts for more
than 3% of the total Australian burden of disease,
and 11% of the total cancer burden in Australia.
19-24 year olds are less likely than any other age
group to consume adequate amounts of fruits
and/or vegetables.
56% of young people don’t eat enough fruit, and
77% don’t eat enough vegetables.

3. Design
Method:
1 hour focus groups with 5-7 participants in each
group. Primary topics for investigation include
factors which facilitate or inhibit fruit and vegetable
consumption.
Focus groups were transcribed verbatim and
common themes identified using framework
analysis.

4. Design
Participants:
30 undergraduate students, aged 18-24.
Predominantly female
Predominantly Australian European
Most still lived at home

5. Results: Emergent barriers
Cost
“living out of home you’re very much restricted by
how much money you have in your wallet. Like I
seriously eat rice or pasta for a week cause I
don’t get paid”
"If apples were like 50 cents I'd eat them all the
time"

6. Results: Emergent barriers
Difficulty in consuming enough food to meet
requirements
“It is so hard to eat. At least I find the five veggies
a day, I can’t. Cause especially what is
considered a serve is like what 100g? …and
that’s dinner basically, just all vegetables and
nothing else.”
"It’s so hard to have that much, though. It’s
tonnes."

7. Results: Emergent barriers
Fruit/veg are unhealthy
"I had this thing in my head that fruit’s bad...I
used to eat it and then people used to tell me
there was heaps of sugar in fruit and I shouldn’t
eat it, so I stopped eating it for a long time."
"Fruit makes you fat"
"Lettuce and cucumber and just 80-85% water,
there is nothing good in them..."

8. Results: Emergent barriers
Preparation and storage
“They [brussel sprouts] are good in some kind of
curry but I can't cook that kind of curry”
"By the time I go to eat them [fruit] it's all rotten.
Chocolate is looking pretty good then"

9. What next?
Based on this research we are now developing
interventions to modify people’s perception of fruits
and vegetables.