socioeconomic factors determining fruit and vegetable consumption among urban households in iran

Many factors influence the fruit and vegetable (f&v) intake. numerous studies have shown the role of economic variables such as income, wealth, and employment as the main factors in the consumption of fruit and vegetables, while social variables seem also important. in this study, various aspects of economic and social factors affecting the consumption of fruits and vegetables among iranian households were examined. in this study 9317 urban households from all the provinces of iran were included. given the nature of the data, probit and ordered probit models were employed and the research model was evaluated using stata software. the results revealed that by increasing the education level of father, mother, and children, the likelihood of fruit and vegetable consumption by household increases by 0.12, 0.07, and 0.054, respectively. mother’s employment is also likely to reduce the consumption of fruits and vegetables as much as 0.012. as well, income, family size, and the education level of children and parents have direct effects on the f&v intake. nevertheless, working mothers and children are likely to have negative effects on f&v consumption. father’s education level is more likely to affect f&v intake in a family compared to mother’s education level. moreover, increasing the number of family members reduces per capita consumption of f&v among households.