CONSUMPTION OF VEGETABLES AND FRUIT AS A RISK FACTOR FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES IN SETTLEMENTS IMPLEMENTING THE STATE PREVENTIVE PROJECT «HEALTHY CITIES AND VILLAGES»

According to the World Health Organization in 2019, for a citizen of Belarus, the probability of death (aged 30 to 70 years) from any of the four major non-communicable diseases (NCDs) is 23.8 %. Developing interventions to prevent chronic NCDs requires evidence to characterize the prevalence of behavioral risk factors. The contribution of insufficient daily consumption of vegetables and fruits to premature mortality from chronic NCDs is 12.9 %, and to the loss of healthy years of life – 6.9 %. It is of scientific interest to study the characteristics of the consumption of vegetables and fruits as alimentary risk factors in an urbanized environment. In the Republic of Belarus, the state preventive project “Healthy cities and towns” has been implemented in 2012 and in 2024 the project unites 379 settlements.

Aim. to assess the prevalence of consumption of vegetables and fruits as risk factors for the development of chronic NCDs in residents of settlements participating in the implementation of the state preventive project “Healthy cities and towns”.

Material and methods. The work was carried out within the framework of the initiative research “To develop an algorithm for assessing the effectiveness of the state preventive project” Healthy cities and towns. “ The material for the study was the data of a sociological study on the prevalence of behavioral risk factors for the development of NCDs in the population aged 18–69 years, conducted in 6 regional centers from 6 regions of the Republic of Belarus, implementing the state preventive project “Healthy cities and towns” for at least 4 years (n = 1608).

Results. A sufficient level of daily consumption of vegetables and fruits is noted in 30.35 %. Daily in the diet there are vegetables in 43.12 %, fruits in 35.95 % of the population. Every seventh adult practically does not eat vegetables (14.37 %) or consumes them 1–2 times a week, and every sixth (15.86 %) fruits. The frequency of daily consumption of vegetables and fruits is higher among women. With age, there is an increase in the frequency of daily consumption of vegetables and fruits from 28.69 % and 19.92 % among people 18–30 years old to 47.24 % and 40.71 % at 51–69 years old. Statistically significant differences in the consumption of fruits and vegetables were established depending on the duration of the implementation of the state preventive project “Healthy cities and towns.”

Conclusion. The results of the study indicate that higher population activity in the consumption of vegetables and fruits is associated with female gender and older age and significantly differs depending on the region.

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