Background:

Regular consumption of fruits and vegetables (F&V) contributes to health promotion and acts as a protective factor against several diseases. The need to understand the evolution of F&V consumption in Brazil is due to several current factors that may interfere with its consumption, such as economic factors, supply crisis and changes in the population’s eating habits. Objective: It was to analyze the temporal trend of F&V consumption in the adult population (≥ 18 years) of the 26 Brazilian capitals and the Federal District between 2008-2021 and in the most recent period between 2015-2021.

Methods:

We used data from the Surveillance System of Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases by Telephone Survey (Vigitel) (n=675,859). Regular (≥5 days/week) and recommended (≥5 servings/day on ≥5 days/week) consumption of FV were estimated for the total population and for sociodemographic groups in the complete (2008-2021), initial (2008 -2014) and recent (2015-2021) period. Prais-Winsten regression models were used for temporal trend analysis.

Results:

Regular and recommended consumption indicators showed stability between 2008-2021. Between 2008-2014, regular consumption increased for the total population (0.71pp/ year) and for all sociodemographic groups, except among those aged 25-34 years and recommended consumption increased, mainly among women (0.90pp/year), adults aged 55-64 years (0.96pp/year) and those with higher schooling (0.77pp/year). However, for 2015-2021, there was a reduction in regular consumption in the total population (-0.56pp/ year), mainly among men (-0.70pp/year), adults aged 25-34 years (-0.84pp/year year) and with more education (-0.96pp/ year) and similarly for recommended consumption which decreased for the total population (-0.52pp/year) and in all sociodemographic groups, except among those aged 65 years or older.

Conclusions:

We observed stability in the prevalence of regular and recommended consumption of fruits and vegetables between 2008-2021 and an intense reduction in consumption between 2015-2021.