Dietary patterns present at the age of the young adult have great probability to remain unchanged for the rest of the life and may contribute to eating disorders later in life. The aim of this study is the analysis of the intake patterns for fruits and vegetables in students from Timis County.
Material and methods: We conducted a cross sectional study using a stratified cluster sample design to produce a representative sample of students for the Timis County. The students' sample totalized 2076 students from the universities in Timis County.
Results: A large percent of the young people participating in the study (41.9%) does not consume fresh juices. For the consumption of fresh fruits, the present results back up the international di scoveries, only 32.8% of the young people consuming fruits daily, which is a smaller percent that the medium value reported by other countries. The frequency of consumption for fruits differs according to gender, being higher for girls. For salads, the percent of young people consuming this type of foods at least once a day is 17.0%, much lower compared to 32.8% of the young people consuming fresh fruits at least once a day.
Conclusions: The examination of the dietary patterns related to the intake of fruits and vegetables helped us to determine priority areas for future interventions.