OBJECTIVETo examine the differences in food and antioxidant vitamin intake in current non-smokers,light smokers,and heavy smokers.

METHODS51 115 people (24 077 male, 27 038 female) aged above 15 years who had completed providing information on smoking habit and dietary intake, were selected from 2002 national health and nutrition survey.

RESULTSAfter adjustment for geographic areas and age, data showed the smokers ate more light vegetable and alcohol, less dark vegetable and fruit than non-smokers. Male smokers consumed more energetic stuff and macronutrients than non-smokers, but female smokers had opposite trends. Light smokers (LS) consumed less antioxidant than non-smokers (NS) after adjusted for area, age, BMI and energy, with carotene (Male LS = 1824.7 microg, NS = 1964.8 microg; Female LS = 1565.4 microg, NS = 2127.4 microg), thiamin (Male LS = 0.84 mg, NS = 0.85 mg; Female LS = 0.72 mg, NS = 0.74 mg), vitamin E (alpha) (Male LS = 9.2 mg, NS = 9.3 mg; Female LS = 7.4 mg, NS = 8.1 mg), vitamin C (Male LS = 91.2 mg, NS = 94.2 mg; Female LS = 76.9 mg, NS = 87.5 mg).

CONCLUSIONSmokers had a significantly lower overall mean dietary antioxidant vitamin intake than non-smokers. Increasing the daily consumption of variety of fruits and vegetables had been recommended to reduce the risk of chronic diseases.