Table 1 Descriptions, samples and measures of included studies

Suburbs (N = 45) within 30 km of the central business district.

Socio Economic Index For Areas (SEIFA).

Number of servings of fruit and vegetables eaten per day.

The suburbs sampled had an average population size of 11 717 people (range: 2729–45 509) and an average geographic size of 6.34 km² (range: 0.89–30.2)

Suburbs in study area were ranked according to SEIFA score, and 15 suburbs were drawn randomly from each of the lowest, middle and highest SEIFA septiles.

Self-report postal dietary survey.

Fruit: ‘How many serves of fruit do you usually eat each day?’

Described as one medium piece of two small pieces of fruit, or one cup of diced fruit.

Vegetables: ‘How many serves of vegetables do you usually eat each day?’

Described as ½ cup of cooked vegetables or 1 cup of salad vegetables. Questions based on those in the Australian National Nutrition Survey.

Response categories: None; one serve; 2 serves; 3–4 serves; 5 serves or more.

Census meshblocks (N = 1178)

2001 New Zealand Deprivation Index.

Number of servings of fruit and vegetables eaten per day.

Mean population c.100, ranging in size from 0 and 624. Meshblocks ranged in size 1 km²-2197 km²

All 38,350 meshblocks in NZ were divided into quintiles according the deprivation score.

Self-report nutrition questionnaire as part of the Health Survey.

Fruit: ‘On average, how many servings of fruit (fresh, frozen, canned or stewed) do you eat per day?’

Excludes fruit juice and dried fruit. A serving = 1 medium piece or 2 small pieces of fruit or ½ cup of stewed fruit. For example, 1 apple and 2 small apricots = 2 servings.

Vegetables: ‘On average, how many servings of vegetables (fresh, frozen, or canned) do you eat per day?’

Excludes vegetable juice. A serving = 1 medium potato/kumara or ½ cup cooked vegetables or 1 cup of salad vegetables. For example, 2 medium potatoes and ½ cup of peas = 3 servings.

Response categories:

I don’t eat vegetables/fruit; less than 1 serving per day; 1 serving per day; 2 servings per day; 3 servings per day; 4 or more servings per day.

Administrative boundaries (N=214)

Neighbourhood SES Index grouped into tertiles which were created across the sample of 4175 participants.

Number of portions of fruit and vegetables eaten per week.

Telephone administered survey.

The neighbourhoods sampled had an average population size of 3 042 people (range: 110–15 260, SD= 1 811) and an average geographic size of 1.69 km² (range: 0.21–44.57, SD=4.38)

Fruit: ‘Not counting juice, how often (number of times per week) do you usually eat fruit?’

Vegetables: ‘How many servings (number of servings per week) of vegetables do you usually eat?’

Weekly number of fruit and vegetable portions consumed recorded in separate variables. Average daily amount was calculated from the reported number of each consumed.

Administrative boundaries (N=14)

NIVEL deprivation index. Neighbourhoods in the study area were ranked according to the NIVEL score, and fourteen neighbourhoods were drawn: seven among those with the lowest and seven among those with the highest scores.

Amount of fruit and vegetables (in grams) eaten per day.

Self-report postal survey.

Fruit:

1) For several fruit items, participants reported how many times they consumed this item on a weekly/monthly basis, and how many portions they ate on such an occasion. Intakes of each item were calculated by multiplying frequency and portion size. Intakes were summed across the various fruit items to obtain total fruit intake.

2) Two-item question:

a) On a day you consume fruit, how many pieces do you eat on average?

b) On how many days per week do you consume this amount of pieces of fruit?

Vegetables: Separate report of how many portions hot (cooked/baked) vegetables and cold (salad/lettuce/tomato/cucumber) vegetable intake on a weekly/monthly basis. Intake was calculated by multiplying frequency and portion size and the average vegetable intake per day was calculated.

Census block group (N=69)

Median household income from the 2000 Census in tertiles based on the study areas.

Mean number of daily servings of fruit and vegetables.

Participants were drawn using a stratified sampling design, using six strata defined as follows:

Interviewer-administered, modified Block 98 semi-quantitative Food Frequency Questionnaire (Berkeley Nutrition Services, Berkeley, California)

The Census block groups from which the sample was drawn had an average population size of 941 people (range: 301–2073) and an average geographic size of 0.15square miles (range: 0.03–0.55).

<20% poverty, <80% African American

Fruit: For 11 items, participants were asked how many times they consumed this item on a weekly/monthly basis and usual portion size.

<20% poverty, >=80% African American

Vegetables: For 20+ items (including potatoes), participants were asked how many times they consumed the item on a weekly/monthly basis and usual portion size.

20-<40% poverty, <80% African American

For both fruit and vegetables, intake of each item was calculated by multiplying frequency and portion size. Intakes were summed and average daily intake was calculated.

20-<40% poverty, >=80% African American

>=40% poverty, <80% African American

>=40% poverty, >=80% African American

Postcode sector (N=121)

Carstairs deprivation score. The HWB sample was stratified proportionately by local authority and deprivation category (DEPCAT), with addresses selected randomly.

Number of portions of fruit or vegetables eaten each day.

Self-report postal survey.

Fruit:’On average, how many portions of fruit do you eat EACH DAY? Examples of a portion are one apple, one tomato, 2 tablespoons canned fruit, one small glass fruit juice.’

Vegetables: ‘On average, how many portions of vegetables or salad (not counting potatoes) do you eat EACH DAY? A portion of vegetables is 2 tablespoons.’

Administrative boundaries

Composite measure, operationalized following the methodology of Carstairs and Morris (1991). Standardization and sum of three census variables: male unemployment, unskilled worker employment and individuals living in shanty houses. Higher values indicate higher deprivation.

Any fruit or vegetables consumed on the previous day.

(N=143 parishes) from Lisbon Metropolitan Area. The suburbs sampled had an average population size of 14.825 people (range: 660–61.373) and an average geographic size of 12.45km² (range: 0.05–212.34).

Self-report questionnaire.

For several food items (soup, fish, meat, potatoes/rice/pasta, vegetables, fruit, bread, and other foods), participants reported if they consumed the item in the day before the survey.

The questions selected for this study were:

Fruit: ‘Did you eat any fruit yesterday?’

Vegetables: ‘Did you eat any vegetables yesterday?’

Response categories: Yes, No and I don’t know.

Potatoes and Soup were not included on the vegetable intake.