Fruit and vegetable consumption and prevalence of diet-related chronic non-communicable diseases in Zanzibar, Tanzania: a mixed-methods study

Background Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of death in developed countries and account for roughly a third of deaths in developing countries. According to the 2004 Food and Agricultural Organization and WHOjoint report on fruit and vegetables for health, low consumption of fruit and vegetables is associated with NCDs. In Zanzibar, the incidence of diabetes has increased from 252 new cases in 2006, to 373 in 2008, in an adult population ofjust over a million people and hypertension is the second commonest cause of death. We explored the association between fruit and vegetable consumption and prevalence of diet-related NCDs in Zanzibar.