Background: Obesity is growing rapidly in our country. Nutrition is an important issue of obesity. The aim of this study was to determine the association between fruit and vegetable intake with the waist circumference and the body mass index (BMI) among young female university students.
Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 236 healthy female university students aged between 18 and 30 years old, who were selected randomly from the students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. A previously validated semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire was used to assess the entire dietary component intake. Physical activity was assessed by daily recording of the physical activities.
Findings: The prevalence of obesity, central adiposity and overweight was 1.7, 0.9 and 8.1%, respectively. The mean value of BMI and the waist circumference was 21.54 kg/m(2) and 70.37 cm, respectively. There was an inverse correlation between the fruit and vegetable intake and body weight (r = -0.1, P = 0.03) as well as BMI (r = -0.1, P = 0.04) and also there was an inverse correlation between the fruit intake and body weight (r = -0.1, P = 0.01) and BMI (r = -0.1, P = 0.01). There was no significant correlation between fruit and vegetable as well as fruit or vegetable separately with the waist circumference.
Conclusion: There were significant correlations between fruit and also fruit and vegetable and body weight and BMI among female university students. There was no significant correlation between fruit and vegetable as well as fruit or vegetable separately with waist circumference.
Keywords: Body mass index; central obesity; fruit and vegetable; waist circumference.