Patterns of Fruit and Vegetable Intake in Adults With and Without Chronic Kidney Disease in the United States

Objective: To characterize patterns of fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake in US adults with and without chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Methods: We used 24-hour dietary recall data from multiple cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey spanning 3 groups from 1988 to 2018 (1988-1994; 2003-2010; 2011-2018). We categorized F&Vs based on food processing and phytochemical content. We assessed patterns of F&Vs using latent class analysis and compared intake patterns across the 3 temporal cohorts and CKD status using weighted multinomial logistic regression.

Results: Four similar patterns of F&Vs emerged in each cycle: Overall Low Intake, High Unprocessed, High Ultra-Processed, and Moderate Processed F&Vs. The Overall Low Intake pattern was most prevalent in all cohorts and CKD groups. After adjustment for demographic variables and selected health conditions, participants with compared to without CKD were more likely to be classified as Overall Low Intake in each cohort, although this was not significant in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011-2018.

Conclusions: Low consumption of F&Vs was more common in patients with CKD. Longitudinal studies are needed to determine if low intake is a risk factor for, or response to, CKD.