Abstract

There is a dearth of information on consumption of fruits and vegetables as part of healthy eating among secondary school students. This study was therefore designed to determine the level of knowledge and attitude of fruits and vegetables consumption among adolescent girls in two boarding secondary schools at Umuahia South Local Government Area, Abia State. This cross-sectional survey involved the use of a multi-stage sampling technique to select the study sample and 400 students who were selected based on their population from a federal school (200 students) and a private school (200 students) at Umuahia South Local Government Area, Abia State. Data were collected with the use of a well-structured and validated questionnaire. Data obtained was analyzed using descriptive statistics and statistical package for social science (SPSS) version 22.0. The result obtained was presented in frequency and percentage. The result showed that 53.0% of the respondents were aged 11 – 12 years. Majority (79.5%) had good knowledge of health benefits of consumption of fruits and vegetables, while 62.8% had positive attitude towards consumption of fruits and vegetables. About 51.3% consumed fruits and vegetables < 1-2 times in a week. Only 12.8% consume fruits and vegetables 7-8 times weekly. Reasons given for consumption of fruits and vegetables by the majority of respondents include nutritious (88.3%), seasonal availability (68.8%), and taboo (18.0%). There was no significant difference between the two boarding secondary schools. The major perceived reason for consumption of fruits and vegetables was “nutritious” but there were negative concerns on certain fruits like pineapple and watermelon because of its taste. There was a consensus that education of the students on the health benefits of consumption of fruits and vegetables would increase the intake level. Respondents were knowledgeable and had positive attitude towards consumption of fruits and vegetables while the frequency was low. Thus, secondary school students should be further enlightened on the importance of consumption of fruits and vegetables.