2-Year Tracking of Children's Fruit and Vegetable Intake

Abstract

Tracking of fruit and vegetable intake was fair to moderate over the 2 years. One-year correlations for total fruit and vegetable servings were .37 for boys and .46 for girls; 2-year correlations were .48 for boys and .40 for girls. kappa values for remaining in the same quintile generally exceeded chance rates only for the top and bottom quintiles. No values exceeded .50. APPLICATION/CONCLUSION: The drift in ranking may have been a result of true changes in fruit and vegetable intake or measurement error (i.e., inability to accurately assess actual intake). If this drift reflects true change, it may be difficult for nutrition education programs targeting this age group to demonstrate long-term behavioral effects on fruit and vegetable intake. If the drift is the result of measurement limitations, improved dietary assessment may yield stronger tracking.