Associations between variety of fruits and vegetables consumed, diet quality and socio-demographic factors among 8th and 11th grade adolescents in Texas.

Objective: To examine demographic and dietary correlates of consumption of a variety of fruits and vegetables (FV) among Texas adolescents. Different types of FV are needed for adequate dietary intake of vitamins and phytochemicals for proper development and functioning throughout the lifespan.

Design: Cross-sectional analysis from the Texas Surveillance of Physical Activity and Nutrition (Texas SPAN) data comparing consumption of a variety of fruit and vegetables by gender, race/ethnicity and region (Texas-Mexico border/non-border).

Setting: Middle, high schools in Texas.

Participants: 8th, 11th grade Texas adolescents ( 9056 representing 659 288) mean age 14·8 years.

Results: Within this sample, mean fruit and vegetable variety scores (0-7) ranged from 2·47 to 2·65. Boys consumed a significantly greater variety of fruit than girls (mean = 1·12 compared with 1·04). Adolescents in non-border regions consumed a greater variety of vegetables and FV compared with those in border regions. FV variety was associated with healthier eating in the full sample, particularly in the highest socio-economic status (SES) tertile. Within the highest SES tertile, a one-unit increase in variety of fruit, vegetable and FV was associated with significant increases ( < 0·001) in a healthy eating measure, the SPAN Healthy Eating Index: Fruit variety ( = 1·33, se = 0·29), vegetable variety ( = 0·90, se = 0·28) and FV variety ( = 0·81, se = 0·19).

Conclusions: Consumption of a greater variety of FV appears to be associated with a healthier overall diet. Associations of FV variety with healthy eating were most significant in the highest SES tertile. These findings support the need to further examine consuming a variety of FV within healthy eating behaviour.