We are encouraged to consume 4-6 portions of fruit and vegetables each day. Investigate how this might be achieved.

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Introduction

We are encouraged to consume 4-6 portions of fruit and vegetables each day. Investigate how this might be achieved.

At each stage of the life cycle we are encouraged to consume 4-6 portions of fruit and vegetables a day. As it would be too hard to investigate all the stages of the life cycle. I am only going to choose one.

The group that I have chosen to base my investigation on is teenagers. I chose this particular group as I, myself am a teenager and therefore I have a fairly good idea on what we, as teenagers like and dislike to eat. Another reason is that I am constantly surrounded by teenagers in school and that means that I will be able to retrieve the information and view points that I need to complete my investigation.

THE ISSUES:

* How can teenagers be encouraged to eat 4-6 portions of fruit and vegetables?

* What is a teenagers daily eating habits?

* Do they eat more fruit than veg or vice versa?

* Do teenagers like fruit and vegetables? why?

* How much fruit and veg do they consume daily?

* Are fruit and veg readily available?

* Do they have a large variety of fruit and veg?

* Are teenagers encouraged to eat fruit and vegetables at home, school?

* Who influences their eating habits?

* Does colour/ texture/ and packaging matter when they buy food?

* What is a portion?

* Does it matter if fruit/ veg is fresh/ frozen/ liquid?

* How can we make fruit and veg more appealing?

* What foods are popular?

* Why do we need to consume 4-6 portions of fruit and veg each day?

The key issues

For this investigation I am only going to look closely at three of the issues that I have highlighted in my introduction. The reason for doing this is that it would be very difficult and it would take a lot of time to collect and write up all the information needed. Also not all the issues have enough information to write a full and detailed investigation on. So I chose three issues that I thought there would be a lot to write about.

The issues that I have chosen are:

Why is it important that teenagers eat 4-6 portions of fruit and vegetables a day?

I chose this issue because there is a lot to write about and a lot of information would be easily available and therefore I would be able to carry out a full investigation. Another reason for choosing this issue is because, as I am a home economics student I already know that fruit and vegetables contain vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and NSP (non-starch polysaccharide). Also I am interested to know what other nutrients and minerals fruit and vegetables contain and why they are essential to the body. Also I would like to know what may happen if we did not consume the recommended 4-6 portions of fruit and vegetables.

How can we encourage teenagers to consume 4-6 portions of fruit and vegetables each day?

My reasons for choosing this issue are that I would be interested in how we can make, so called 'boring foods' appear more appetizing. Also I personally do not eat the recommended 4-6 portions of vegetables and would like to know how I and other teenagers could be encouraged to eat more of them.

What are the day to day eating habits of teenagers?

I have chosen this topic because I would be interested to know if other teenagers have the same eating habits as me, what foods they like/dislike and how much fruit and vegetables most teenagers actually eat each day. Also it would be helpful to my investigation to understand why teenagers eat the foods they eat each day, knowing this may help answer issue two. I will also be able to get ideas from asking my peer group.

Why should teenagers eat 4-6 portions of fruit and vegetables a day?

All groups of the life cycle are recommended to consume 4-6 portions of fruit and vegetables a day. This is because eating fruit and vegetables is a boost to good health. Eating 5 or more fruits and vegetables a day promotes good health and prevents diseases. Also for young people research done by OK magazine has shown that eating the recommended amount of fruit and veg improves their health in later life. There are many other reasons to why it is important to eat fruit and vegetables and these are as follows;

The first reason is that fruit and vegetables contain many vitamins, nutrients and minerals that are important to the body, it is these that help a young person's body stay strong and healthy. They also contain "phytochemicals" which are plant chemicals that have several health benefits for humans. Also they are rich sources of protective nutrients like ascorbic acid, flavenoids, folic acids, leutines, and carotenoids.

Another reason for why eating fruit and vegetables is important is that eating fruit and veg reduces certain illnesses. Research done by Victoria Wilson for cancer research has shown that they can prevent cancers including lung, ovarian, esophageal, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, bladder, endometrial, stomach, and non-hodgkin's lymphoma. This is because research has shown that vitamins A, C andE prevents cancer and many fruits and vegetables contain these vitamins. An article by the nutrition and physical activity unit states that some of the best fruit and vegetable sources for these vitamins are grapefruit, melon, orange, avocados, butternut squash, carrots and spinach.

The next reason is that an investigation into heart disease by the BBC 2001 showed that fruit and vegetables may also prevent heart disease, hypertension and stroke. This is because fruit contains antioxidants, which are certain vitamins such as beta carotene, carotenoids, and flavenoids that protect against such diseases. Fruit also contains a substance called zinc, which helps to boost the immune system and keep teenagers healthy and protect against such sicknesses as flu. This is very important for teenagers as many students in the school get the flu and then germs can be easily spread and cause others to get ill, this especially important in winter as again there are more flu germs in the atmosphere.

Also fruit and vegetables also contain a large amount of fibre, there are two types of fibre, soluble and insoluble. The difference is that insoluble fibre absorbs water and increases bulk. This helps the stools become soft and bulky and helps to keep the gut in good working order. According to Anita Tull's food and nutrition, insoluble fibre protects against constipation and diverticulosis and it helps to keep teenagers slim. Soluble fibre is also thought to slow down the digestion and absorption of carbohydrates so helps control blood sugar levels which helps stop us feeling hungry. This fibre protects against CHD and diabetes. As child diabetes is on the increase we can assume that young people are not eating enough fruit and vegetables which means that more people will get ill.

Another reason of why we should consume 4-6 portions of fruit and vegetables is that they are proven to help increase bone health due to the potassium and magnesium found in fruit and veg. Research found on the web site www.bbc.co.uk/food also stated that eating more fruit and vegetables will prevent asthma in children and the elderly.

Another antioxidant is Vitamin C, found in some fruits and vegetables, this is more important to girls as during menstruation Vitamin C helps absorb iron, which is lost in blood. Also Vitamin C helps lower stress levels, this is important to teenagers as they may get stressed during exams and due to coursework deadlines etc. Anita Tull suggests that foods containing iron from plant sources should be eaten with foods rich in Vitamin C.
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The next reason we should eat more fruit and vegetables is because fruit contains natural intrinsic sugars which are a lot less harmful to teeth than the extrinsic sugars which are added to various foods. Therefore if teenagers eat less sweets and more fruit then they will have less dental caries.

The final reason for why eating fruit and vegetables is so important is that they have a low calorific value and therefore may help prevent the amount of obesity in today's society. As child obesity is on the increase people should start worrying about the ...

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