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. 2015 Jun 15;73(1):29. doi: 10.1186/s13690-015-0078-8

Does the consumption of fruits and vegetables differ between Eastern and Western European populations? Systematic review of cross-national studies

Denes Stefler 1,, Martin Bobak 1
PMCID: PMC4466869  PMID: 26078867

Abstract

Background

Difference in fruit and vegetable consumption has been suggested as a possible reason for the large gap in cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality rates between Eastern and Western European populations. However, individual-level dietary data which allow direct comparison across the two regions are rare. In this systematic review we aimed to answer the question whether cross-national studies with comparable individual-level dietary data reveal any systematic differences in fruit and vegetable consumption between populations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Former Soviet Union (FSU) compared to Western Europe (WE).

Methods

Studies were identified by electronic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science databases from inception to September 2014, and hand search. Studies which reported data on fruit, vegetable consumption or carotene and vitamin C intake or tissue concentrations of adult participants from both CEE/FSU and WE countries were considered for inclusion. Quality of the included studies was assessed by a modified STROBE statement. Power calculation was performed to determine the statistical significance of the comparison results.

Results

Twenty-two studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Fruit consumption was found to be consistently lower in CEE/FSU participants compared to Western Europeans. Results on vegetable intake were less unambiguous. Antioxidant studies indicated lower concentration of beta-carotene in CEE/FSU subjects, but the results for vitamin C were not consistent.

Conclusion

This systematic review suggests that populations in CEE and FSU consume less fruit than Western Europeans. The difference in the consumption of fruit may contribute to the CVD gap between the two regions.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13690-015-0078-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Keywords: Fruit and vegetable consumption, Central and Eastern Europe, Former Soviet Union, Cross-national studies

Background

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality rates are considerably higher in countries of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Former Soviet Union (FSU) compared Western Europe (WE) [1]. Differences in diet quality between the two regions, fruit and vegetable consumption in particular, has been one of the proposed explanations for this health gap [25].

The lack of internationally comparable, individual-level dietary data in Europe is a well-known problem in public health nutrition [69]. In 2011, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published the Comprehensive European Food Consumption Database of food consumption data for most EU member states collected by national dietary surveys of individual-level intakes. However, the authors emphasised that due to the differences in data collection methods, the database was not suitable for international comparisons [10]. Other than the differences in dietary assessment methods, the lack of uniform food-grouping and coding system, and differences in estimated portion sizes and food composition tables also make the nationally collected and analysed dietary data inadequate for direct country-to-country comparison [7, 8, 11].

Previous systematic reviews of fruit, vegetable and micronutrient intakes in CEE, FSU and WE countries used data from studies which had been conducted separately in the two regions [12, 13]. These reviews found that the methodological differences between studies seriously limited the interpretation of the results, and emphasised that the lack of comparable data was especially important in CEE and FSU countries. In this respect, cross-national studies which include participants from both CEE/FSU and WE countries, and collect and analyse dietary data in a standardized way, may be therefore more suitable for direct comparisons of food intakes between the two regions.

The aim of this work was to systematically review cross-national studies which reported individual-level data on consumption of fruits, vegetables, or their indicators, such as vitamin C and carotenoids, of participants from CEE/FSU and WE populations using identical methods for data collection and analysis in the two regions.

Methods

Search strategy

MEDLINE, EMBASE and Web of Science databases were searched from inception to September 2014, using search terms described in Appendix 1. References and citation lists of selected papers were studied for additional papers, and hand search of key journals (Public Health Nutrition, European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, European Journal of Public Health) was also performed. No restriction on language was applied.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Original, quantitative, observational epidemiological studies which described fruit, vegetable, antioxidant intakes or antioxidant status of adult participants who live in CEE or FSU countries and provided comparison populations from Western Europe were included in the review. Based on the data collection methods and reported dietary data, the following studies were considered for inclusion: (1) Dietary surveys: studies which reported data on fruit and vegetable intake levels using established nutritional assessment methods such as food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), diet history, dietary record and 24-h diet recall. (2) Health behavioural surveys: reporting data on fruit and vegetable intakes using lifestyle questionnaires with questions regarding fruit or vegetable consumption habits. (3) Antioxidant studies: reporting data on average vitamin C or carotenoid intakes or status (including plasma, serum and adipose tissue concentrations).

Studies were excluded if data collection methods or the inclusion criteria of participants differed substantially between the two regions. Studies which compared dietary habits between the former East and West Germany were used only if their data collection took place before 1991, because food consumption patterns of East Germans seem to have changed rapidly after the reunification [14].

To avoid bias towards studies which reported more than one exposure of interest from the same participants, we included only one set of data from these studies in the review: data on carotenoid and vitamin C intake or status were included only if no data on fruit or vegetable consumption were available. If both antioxidant intake and status were reported, only intake data was used, and if data on more than one type of carotenoid concentration were available, only beta-carotene was extracted.

Quality assessment

Quality of the included studies was assessed by a shortened version of the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement [15]. Modification of the checklist was necessary because several studies described only the nutritional characteristics of the subjects and the analysis of the relationship with disease outcomes was not reported. Therefore four items of the statement, which refer to the variables and outcome results of an analytic study (item nos. 7, 11, 15 and 16), were omitted and the assessment was carried out using the remaining 18 items.

Data analysis

Most studies described dietary data of participants from more than one country within a certain region. For these studies, the average values for CEE/FSU and WE were calculated and reported in the review.

To take into account the well-documented difference in fruit and vegetable consumption between Northern and Southern European countries [16, 17], both CEE/FSU and WE regions were divided into “south” and “north” sub-regions (Table 1). If a study reported g/day intake levels of fruits or vegetables of participants from opposite sub-regions, north/south weighting was applied: the intake figure of the “south” country was multiplied with a weighting factor calculated from FAO data [18] by dividing the average fruit or vegetable supply of all northern countries of that region between 1970 and 2009 by the specific country’s average supply over the same time period. For studies reporting data on the percentages of participants eating daily fruits or vegetables, or antioxidant data, no such weighting was carried out because appropriate weighting factors were not available.

Table 1.

Grouping of Central and Eastern European (CEE)/former Soviet Union (FSU) and Western European (WE) countries

Region Sub-region Countries
CEE/FSU North Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
South Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, TFYR Macedonia
WE North Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
South Andorra, Greece, Italy, Portugal, San Marino, Spain

If data were collected in winter or spring months in one region and during summer or autumn in the other, seasonal weighting of the CEE/FSU data was applied: the intake figures were multiplied with a weighting factor which was calculated from the Health Alcohol and Psychosocial Factors in Eastern Europe (HAPIEE) study, which is the largest study in CEE/FSU with dietary data [19]. The weighting factor was determined as the ratio of the energy standardized mean intake level between participants who completed the questionnaire in the summer/autumn months and those who completed it during the winter or spring months. Weighting for seasonal variation was applied only in CEE/FSU because seasonal differences in this region are more substantial than in Western Europe [5, 20, 21].

Most reviewed studies did not report statistical significance of the differences between CEE/FSU and WE. In order to assess whether the reported differences were statistically significant, power calculation was applied. If a study had more than 80 % power to show the described difference as statistically significant on the 0.05 significance level, we considered the reported difference statistically significant. If the power was between 20 % and 80 %, we considered that the observed difference was non-significant but the trend was worth noting, and if the power was lower than 20 %, the difference was considered negligible. Power calculations were carried out using STATA 12.1 statistical software (StataCorp Texas, USA).

If standard deviation (SD) value was required for power calculation but it was not available from the specific study [2227], the average SD of fruit, vegetable, vitamin C and beta-carotene intake and concentration levels reported in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) study cohorts was assumed [16, 28]. We considered this assumption appropriate because EPIC is the largest international study with such data available and its results suggest that SD values vary in a narrow range irrespectively of study size and mean intake level. In the study which measured adipose tissue beta-carotene concentration [29] the SD reported on a subsample of the same study participants were used [30]. In studies where south/north or seasonal weighting was applied, SD values were multiplied with the same figures as the mean values.

Results

Characteristics of the reviewed studies

Twenty-two studies met the inclusion criteria: ten dietary surveys [2226, 3135], six health behavioural surveys [3641] and six antioxidant studies [27, 29, 4245]. Fig. 1 shows the study selection process and Table 2 (see Additional file 1) describes the main features of the included studies. Most studies were cross-sectional in design or reported cross-sectional data from cohort studies. In two studies [29, 32], data were extracted from case–control setting. Participants from 18 CEE/FSU countries and 18 WE states were included in the comparisons and most countries were covered by more than one study. The earliest study [22] reported data from the early 1960s, while the latest data collection took place in 2010 [41]. Sample sizes ranged from 30 to 85 921 per region. Five studies [22, 29, 31, 42, 43] recruited only males but the majority gave dietary data for both genders. More than half of the studies applied random sampling method at recruitment and eight [26, 33, 3740, 43, 45] used the general population as the sampling frame.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 1

Flow diagram of the study selection process

Table 2.

Characteristics of included studies

1st author, year of publication Name of study Examined food or antioxidant Dietary assessment Participants’ country of origin Year of data collection Month of data collection Sample size Response rate (%) Females (%) Age range or mean (years) Sampling method Basis of sample Quality score* (max:18)
1. DIETARY SURVEYS
Kromhout 1989 [22] Seven Countries Study Fruits, vegetables 7d record CEE: Yugoslavia 1960-64 Jan-May, Sep 150 nd 0 40-59 random farm/factory workers, academics 9
WE: Finland, Italy, Greece Netherlands 1959-65 Feb-Sep 286 nd 0 40-59 random village inhabitants, railroad workers
Winkler 1992(31] Fruits, vegetables 3d record CEE: GDR 1987 Oct-Dec 132 73 0 45-64 random urban inhabitants 11
WE: FDR 1984-85 Oct-May 424 70 0 45-64 cluster urban inhabitants
Schroll 1996 [23] SENECA Fruits, vegetables Diet history CEE: Poland 1993 Jan-Jun 120 51† 61 74-79 random urban inhabitants 13
WE: Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, UK, Switzerland 1993 Jan-Jun 1237 51† 51 74-79 random urban inhabitants
Karamanos 2002 [24] Fruits, vegetables Diet history CEE: Bulgaria nd nd 288 nd 50 35-60 random urban inhabitants 14
WE: Italy, Greece nd nd 1058 nd 54 35-60 random urban and rural inhabitants
Serra-Majem 2003 [25] WHO-CINDI Fruits, vegetables 24hr recall CEE: Poland 1991-94 nd 4440 nd 50 20-65 random factory workers 14
WE: Spain 1992 nd 2757 69 nd 6-75 random general population
Petkeviciene 2009 [26] NORBAGREEN Fruits, vegetables FFQ CEE: Lithuania 2002 Apr 99 68 57 19-75 random general population 15
WE: Finland 2002 Jan-May 125 91 nd 25-64 random general population
Lixandru 2010 [32] Fruits, vegetables FFQ CEE: Romania 2005 Apr-Nov 40 nd 30 63 convenience diabetic patients 12
WE: Belgium 2005 Apr-Nov 30 nd 20 62 convenience diabetic patients
Paalanen 2011 [33] Fruits, vegetables FFQ CEE: Russia 1992-07 Mar-May 2672 45-92 57 25-64 random general population 16
WE: Finland 1992-02 Mar-May 4365 67-81 53 25-64 random general population
Crispim 2011 [34] EFCOVAL Fruits, vegetables 24hr recall CEE: Czech Republic 2007-08 Oct-Apr 118 nd 51 45-65 convenience healthy individuals 16
WE: Belgium, France, Norway Netherlands, 2007-08 Apr-Jul, Oct-Apr 482 nd 50 45-65 convenience healthy individuals
El Ansari 2012 [35] CNSHS Fruits, vegetables FFQ CEE: Bulgaria, Poland 2005 nd 1143 95 70 21 convenience university students 14
WE: Denmark, Germany 2005 nd 1236 85-92 53 21 convenience university students
2. HEALTH BEHAVIOUR SURVEYS
Wardle 1997 [36] EHBS Fruits na CEE: Poland, Hungary, GDR 1989-92 nd 2293 90-100 51 22 convenience university students 13
WE: Austria, Belgium, FDR, UK Denmark, Finland, Spain, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland 1989-92 nd 14192 90-100 56 21 convenience university students
Prattala 2007 [37] Finbalt Health Monitor project Fruits na CEE: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania 1998-02 Apr-May 15740 62-80 57 20-64 random general population 16
WE: Finland 1998-02 Apr-May 9354 65-70 53 20-64 random general population
Prattala 2009 [38] EUROTHIENE Vegetables na CEE: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania 2000-04 nd 14219 60-73 58 20-64 random general population 15
WE: Finland, Denmark, Spain, Germany, France, Italy 1998-04 nd 86924 61-87 51 20-64 random general population
Hall 2009 [39] WHS Fruits, vegetables na CEE: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine 2002-03 nd 22475 69-100 53 18-99 random general population 15
WE: Spain 2002-03 nd 5448 86 60 18-99 random general population
European Commission 2013 [40] EHIS Fruits, vegetables na CEE: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia 2006-09 nd 85921 56-89 53 15-99 random general population na
WE: Belgium, Greece, Spain, France 2006-09 nd 62700 60-96 55 15-99 random general population
Burisch 2014 [41] ECCO-EpiCom Fruits, Vegetables na CEE: Croatia, Czech Rep, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Moldova, Romania, Russia 2010 Jan-Dec 249 76† 42 15+ convenience IBD patients (at diagnosis) 16
WE: Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, UK 2010 Jan-Dec 933 76† 46 15+ convenience IBD patients (at diagnosis)
3. ANTIOXIDANT STUDIES
Kardinaal 1993 [29] EURAMIC Beta-carotene in adipose tissue na CEE: Russia 1991-92 nd 200 79-97 0 51 convenience hospital patients, healthy controls 16
WE: Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, UK, Spain, Switzerland 1991-92 nd 1180 50-98 0 54 convenience hospital patients, healthy controls
Kristenson 1997 [42] LiVicordia Beta-carotene in plasma na CEE: Lithuania 1993-94 Oct-Jun 100 83 0 50 random urban inhabitants 14
WE: Sweden 1993-94 Oct-Jun 95 83 0 50 random urban inhabitants
Bobak 1998 [27] Beta-carotene in plasma na CEE: Czech Republic 1992 Sep-Nov 136 70 49 40-59 random urban inhabitants 14
WE: UK 1991-93 nd 358 73 31 40-59 random civil servants
Bobak 1999 [43] Beta-carotene in plasma na CEE: Czech Republic 1995 Apr-Jun 188 70 0 45-64 random general population 17
WE: Germany 1995 Apr-Jun 153 70 0 45-64 random general population
Miere 2007 [44] Vitamin C intake 24h recall CEE: Romania nd nd 312 nd 87 21 convenience university students 8
WE: Spain nd nd 918 nd 58 22 convenience university students
Woodside 2013 [45] EUREYE Vitamin C and Beta-carotene in plasma na CEE: Estonia 2000-03 nd 833 58.6 66 65+ random general population 15
WE: Norway, UK, France, Italy, Greece, Spain 2000-03 nd 3300 36-56 52 65+ random general population

WHO-CINDI, World Health Organization Countrywide Integrated Non-communicable Disease Intervention; NORBAGREE, Consumption of vegetables and fruits and other dietary health indicator foods in the Nordic and Baltic countries; EFCOVAL, European Food Consumption Validation; CNSHS, Cross National Student Health Survey; EHBS, European Health and Behaviour Survey; WHS, World Health Survey; EHIS, European Health Interview Survey; EURAMIC, European Community Multicentre Study on Antioxidants, Myocardial Infarction and Breast Cancer; LiVicordia, Linkoping-Vilnius Coronary Disease Risk Assessment Study; ECCO-EpiCom, European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization’s Epidemiological Committee study; FDR, Federal Republic of Germany; GDR, German Democratic Republic; CEE: Central and Eastern Europe (or Former Soviet Union); WE, Western Europe; FFQ, Food frequency questionnaire; na, not applicable; nd, no data available; IBD, Inflammatory bowel disease

*Based on evaluation using a modified STROBE checklist; †Overall response rate

Overall, the quality of the reviewed studies was good. 15 studies scored 14 or more points on the 18 point scale and only two [22, 44] scored less than ten points. Quality of one study [40] was not assessed because it was published as an online database, with no peer-reviewed research paper available.

Findings of the reviewed studies

Table 3 (see Additional file 2) shows the average intake, percentage and concentration values of CEE/FSU and WE participants regarding fruit, vegetable and antioxidants reported by the reviewed studies. The directions of the observed differences and the extent of their significance, determined by power calculation, are also summarised.

Table 3.

Summary results of the included studies

1st author, year of publication Unit of measurement Sex CEE countries WE countries Power Summary: CEE compared to WE‡
Average intake, cc. or % Range* SD Average intake, cc. or % Range* SD
1. DIETARY SURVEYS
FRUITS
Kromhout 1989 [22]§│ g/day intake M 58.6 1.0-153.6 207.3† 132.1 21.3-310.9 178.3† 0.96 LOWER
Winkler 1992 [31] g/day intake M 98.0 145.3 101.0 164.3 0.05 no difference
Schroll 1996 [23 g/day intake M 186.0 239.1† 234.0 120.0-532.5 230.2† 0.26 lower-ns
F 162.0 210.2† 208.0 135.0-399.6 202.4† 0.43 lower-ns
Karamanos 2002 [24] g/day intake M 293.0 239.1† 315.0 236.0-355.0 239.1† 0.16 no difference
F 303.0 210.2† 325.7 234.0-377.0 210.2† 0.21 lower-ns
Serra-Majem 2003 [25 g/day intake M+F 137.0 224.7† 290.0 218.0† 1.00 LOWER
Petkeviciene 2009 [26] p/month intake M+F 20.8 84.3† 29.4 84.3† 0.12 no difference
Lixandru 2010 [3] % eat daily M 100.0 na 89.5 na 0.34 higher-ns
F 100.0 na 100.0 na na no difference
Paalanen 2011 [33] % eat daily M 14.0 2.0-31.0 na 52.3 43.0-61.0 na 1.00 LOWER
F 26.0 4.0-50.0 na 73.3 66.0-82.0 na 1.00 LOWER
Crispim 2011 [34] g/day intake M 207.0 176.7 197.0 163.0-228.0 175.1 0.07 no difference
F 226.0 155.7 230.5 194.0-265.0 151.1 0.05 no difference
El Ansari 2012 [35] % eat daily M 31.6 23.8-39.4 na 30.4 28.6-32.1 na 0.05 no difference
F 46.8 39.5-54.1 na 51.6 47.8-55.4 na 0.42 lower-ns
VEGETABLES
Kromhout 1989 [22]§│ g/day intake M 240.0 159.0-276.0 198.2† 102.6 57.3-227 88.1† 1.00 HIGHER
Winkler 1992 [31] g/day intake M 126.0 154.8 124.0 154.8 0.05 no difference
Schroll 1996 [23 g/day intake M 341.0 154.8† 288.0 82.4-461.0 128.1† 0.63 higher-ns
F 297.0 143.9† 238.0 77.0-383.0 121.0† 0.92 HIGHER
Karamanos 2002 [24] g/day intake M 243.0 154.8† 189.0 168.0-214.0 154.8† 0.96 HIGHER
F 291.0 143.9† 197.3 178.0-222.0 143.9† 1.00 HIGHER
Serra-Majem 2003 [25 g/day intake M+F 288.0 149.4† 97.1 68.7† 1.00 HIGHER
Petkeviciene 2009 [26] p/month intake M+F 29.9 56.0† 29.1 56.0† 0.05 no difference
Lixandru 2010 [32] g/day intake M 287.0 189.4 269.9 108.1 0.07 no difference
F 258.3 157.9 283.3 125.2 0.06 no difference
Paalanen 2011 [33] % eat daily M 15.0 10.0-24.0 na 48.7 44.0-54.0 na 1.00 LOWER
F 22.3 11.0-35.0 na 70.7 69.0-72.0 na 1.00 LOWER
Crispim 2011 [34] g/day intake M 162.0 121.1 201.0 168.0-222.0 112.8 0.60 lower-ns
F 157.0 99.1 202.3 166.0-254.0 108.5 0.87 LOWER
El Ansari 2012 [35] % eat daily M 37.8 23.9-51.6 na 24.4 23.3-25.4 na 0.99 HIGHER
F 44.9 28.0-61.8 na 42.0 37.5-46.4 na 0.18 no difference
2. HEALTH BEHAVIOUR SURVEYS
FRUITS
Wardle 1997 [36] % eat daily M 40.0 36.0-45.0 na 42.9 23.0-78.0 na 0.43 lower-ns
F 65.0 59.0-74.0 na 61.1 36.2-86.0 na 0.72 higher-ns
Prattala 2007 [37] % eat daily M 11.0 10.0-12.0 na 18.0 na 1.00 LOWER
F 20.3 17.0-25.0 na 36.0 na 1.00 LOWER
EHIS 2013 [40] % eat daily M 52.8 39.4-66.8 na 60.6 57.9-66.0 na 1.00 LOWER
F 67.0 49.2-82.3 na 69.1 62.3-74.5 na 1.00 LOWER
Burisch 2014[41] % eat daily M+F 43.4 na 54.3 na 0.87 LOWER
VEGETABLES
Prattala 2009 [38] % eat daily M 22.5 16.1-27.5 na 32.1 24.7-39.1 na 1.00 LOWER
F 30.4 25.0-33.4 na 45.9 36.9-59.1 na 1.00 LOWER
EHIS 2013 [40] % eat daily M 54.8 44.2-71.3 na 68.6 56.0-82.7 na 1.00 LOWER
F 62.5 55.0-78.6 na 74.2 65.3-87.4 na 1.00 LOWER
Burisch 2014 [41] % eat daily M+F 49.0 na 60.1 na 0.88 LOWER
FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
Hall 2009 [3] % eat >=5 p/day M 18.1 8.0-44.5 na 22.0 na 0.98 LOWER
F 23.5 9.4-49.7 na 24.9 na 0.38 lower-ns
3. ANTIOXIDANT STUDIES
BETA CAROTENE
Kardinaal 1993 [29] ug/g fatty acid M 0.51 0.45-0.56 0.80 0.42 0.18-0.59 0.80 0.31 higher-ns
Kristenson 1997 [42] umol/l cc. M 0.38 0.20 0.51 0.32 0.92 LOWER
Bobak 1998 [27] umol/l cc. M 0.39 0.26† 0.77 0.26† 1.00 LOWER
F 0.52 0.40† 0.97 0.40† 1.00 LOWER
Bobak 1999 [43] umol/l cc.** M 0.11 0.08 0.20 0.21 1.00 LOWER
Woodside 2013 [45] umol/l cc M 0.25 0.26 0.34 0.19-0.48 0.31 1.00 LOWER
F 0.36 0.34 0.44 0.30-0.67 0.37 1.00 LOWER
VITAMIN C
Miere 2007 [44] mg/day intake M 80.3 54.8 106.2 83.4 0.77 lower-ns
F 88.8 67.9 124.4 94.8 1.00 LOWER
Woodside 2013 [45] umol/l cc. M 42.0 23.8 38.0 32.7-44.4 23.1 0.74 higher-ns
F 54.5 27.7 48.5 43.5-52.4 23.4 1.00 HIGHER

M, Males; F, Females; p, portion; EHIS, European Health Interview Survey; na, not applicable; cc., concentration

*Range of intake levels, percentages or concentrations if data was reported from more than one country or site

†SD assumed from EPIC study

LOWER: Intake level, percentage or concentration significantly lower in CEE/FSU countries compared to data from WE, (power > 0.80); HIGHER: Intake level, percentage or concentration significantly higher in CEE/FSU countries compared to data from WE, (power > 0.80); lower-ns: Intake level, percentage or concentration lower in CEE/FSU but difference not significant (power < 0.80 and >0.20); higher-ns: Intake level, percentage or concentration higher in CEE/FSU but difference not significant (power < 0.80 and >0.20); no difference: power < 0.20

§:North–south weighting was applied

I:Seasonal weighting was applied

**Calculated from reported data using molar mass = 537 g

Most studies reported their results separately for fruits and vegetables and for males and females. Majority of dietary surveys gave average fruit or vegetable consumption values as mean gram per day intakes, and most of the health behavioural surveys as the percentage of the sample who eat these foods at least once a day.

Regarding fruit intake, both dietary and health behavioural surveys showed consistently lower intakes in CEE/FSU compared to WE. Although six out of nine dietary survey comparisons with adequate power found higher vegetable intake in CEE/FSU countries, the estimates were consistently lower in health behavioural surveys. All antioxidant studies indicated lower concentration of beta-carotene in CEE/FSU subjects, but the results for vitamin C were not consistent. No consistent difference was found between males and females.

Discussion

This systematic review of cross-national studies on fruit and vegetable intake found consistently lower fruit intake figures in CEE/FSU populations compared to WE, but no consistent difference for vegetable intake between the two regions.

Our results are congruent with ecological dietary data of food availability based on food balance sheets (FBS) and household budgetary surveys (HBS). Comparison of average fruit and vegetable supply in CEE/FSU and WE countries between 1970 and 2009 suggests clear difference only for fruits but not for vegetables [18]. Similarly, comparison of HBS data from DAFNE database indicates that, on average, the availability of fruits is lower but vegetables is higher in CEE/FSU countries [46].

The inconsistency of our findings regarding vegetable intake can be due to the lack of north/south weighting of health behavioural survey results. For example, in the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS), the largest health behavioural survey included in the review, most participants came from southern countries of Western Europe and northern part of CEE/FSU. If, as a sensitivity analysis, we applied the weighting factors calculated from FAO database for the EHIS results, the comparison showed that the proportion of individuals who consumed vegetables at least once a day was higher in CEE/FSU countries, which is similar to most dietary surveys.

On the other hand, most health behaviour surveys had larger sample size than the dietary surveys, and they are also less prone to measurement error. Furthermore, since the main food sources of beta-carotene are vegetables [47], the findings of the antioxidant studies are also in support of the health behavioural survey results and the lower vegetable intake in Eastern Europe.

On the whole, we cannot exclude the possibility that the reason for the inconsistent results regarding vegetable consumption is that there is no actual difference in intake between CEE/FSU and WE populations.

Our review has several limitations. Firstly, it is possible that further published or non-published studies exist which we did not identify during the search. However, cross-national studies tend to require substantial funding, logistics and international cooperation between institutions, which often go hand in hand with the endeavour to publish the work in internationally reputable journals which can be found in the electronic databases we searched. In addition, as we applied no language restriction in the electronic search, the possibility of finding studies from non-English speaking countries was increased.

Secondly, our data analysis involved several assumptions. The weighting factors from FAO database and HAPIEE study were the best options currently available for these purposes, and the SD values brought over from EPIC study did not influence the direction of the results, it only helped to decide whether the studies were sufficiently large to draw meaningful conclusions of their findings.

Although the reviewed studies included participants from a large number of CEE/FSU and WE countries, some of them providing nationally representative food consumption data, specific comparisons were representative only for a small proportion of the whole CEE/FSU and WE populations. Because large differences exist in fruit and vegetable intakes within the regions, the reported comparisons can only be seen as pixels of a much larger picture. The complete picture will emerge only when nationally representative, comparable dietary data is available for most European countries; in fact, this is the main aim of EFSA’s on-going “EU Menu” project [48].

Conclusion

This systematic review supports previous data that people in CEE/FSU countries consume less fruit than Western Europeans, and that the difference in vegetable intake is probably less clear-cut. Since inadequate consumption of fruit is suggested as a modifiable risk factor for CVD [49, 50], the difference in fruit intake may contribute to the gap in CVD mortality rates between the two regions.

Acknowledgements

The work was partly supported by the Russian Scientific Foundation (# 14-45-00030). D Stefler was supported by the British Heart Foundation.

Abbreviations

CV

Cardiovascular disease

CEE

Central and Eastern Europe

DAFNE

Data Food Networking

EFSA

European Food Safety Authority

EHIS

European Health Interview Survey

EPIC

European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study

FAO

Food and Agriculture Organization

FBS

Food balance sheet

FFQ

Food frequency questionnaire

FSU

Former Soviet Union

HAPIEE

Health Alcohol and Psychosocial Factors in Eastern Europe study

HBS

Household budgetary Survey

STROBE

Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology

WE

Western Europe

Additional files

Additional file 1: (28.7KB, pdf)

Characteristics of included studies.

Additional file 2: (46.2KB, pdf)

Summary of results of included studies.

Additional file 3: (24.5KB, doc)

Search terms used for MEDLINE search.

Footnotes

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Authors’ contributions

DS carried out the literature search, quality assessment of reviewed studies and the data analysis. DS and MB wrote the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript

Contributor Information

Denes Stefler, Email: denes.stefler.10@ucl.ac.uk.

Martin Bobak, Email: m.bobak@ucl.ac.uk.

References

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