Is fruit and vegetable consumption associated with smoking and protective against smoking uptake in youth

There is a multitude of cross-sectional research associating a less healthy diet and cigarette smoking among adults. Longitudinal research has further observed that higher baseline fruit and vegetable consumption (FVC) is associated with increased abstinence from cigarettes and other tobacco products at follow-up. However, published research on these associations in youth is much more limited. In this study we examined if baseline FVC was associated with cigarette smoking and if FVC was protective against smoking uptake through secondary data analysis of the 2004 to 2008 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979: Child and Young Adult (children of the original 1979 cohort). The sample was limited to 1911 youth aged 14 to 18 years in 2004 when interviewed about FVC and smoking status. With each time per day increase in FVC there was a 14% reduction in the odds of smoking at least 3 times per week (Odds Ratio: .86, p<.05) after controlling for age, race, and gender in a multivariable logistic regression model. In longitudinal analysis among those who were never smokers in 2004 but tried cigarettes by 2006, there was not a significant association between smoking at least 3 times per day at four year follow-up (2008) and FVC at baseline (Odds Ratio: .891, p>.05; n=234). In this cohort, FVC was associated with cigarette smoking as is typically found in adults. FVC in the teenage years was not found to be protective against becoming a regular smoker into adulthood four years later.