Investigating the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Fruit and Vegetable Consumption and Its Related Factors among Female High School Students in Nehbandan City in 2023

Background & objectives: Adolescents are crucial and sensitive age group in any society, with their health forming a fundamental basis for the society health.Despite the importance of healthy nutrition during adolescence, most adolescents globally consume less than the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables while increasing their intake of carbonated drinks and high-fat processed fast food.This study aims to determine the knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to fruit and vegetable consumption among female high school students and the factors influencing these behaviors.Methods: This cross-sectional study included 270 first female high school students from Nehbandan city in 2023, randomly selected using multi-stage sampling method.Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire along with knowledge, attitude, and practice assessments, and analyzed using SPSS-23 software utilizing descriptive-analytical statistics, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and Spearman's correlation. Results:The average age of the students was 13.90.75years.The mean scores and standard deviations for beverage and vegetable consumption, attitude, and daily performance were 17.762.8,24.685, and 3.71.5 respectively, with the daily and weekly performance of fruit and vegetable consumption at (3.71.5) and 10.285.3respectively.There was a significant relationship between fruit and vegetable consumption and factors such as father's occupation, family income, and mother's education (p< 0.05). Conclusion:The results indicated that while students had favorable knowledge and attitudes towards fruit and vegetable consumption, their actual consumption practices were inadequate.Factors such as attitudes, mother's education level, father's occupation, and income significantly influenced students' fruit and vegetable consumption.Therefore, educational interventions and counseling for mothers on the importance of fruit and vegetable consumption for family health, especially for adolescents, along with government support for low-income families to improve nutrition, are essential.