The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report showing that most Americans still don’t eat enough vegetables and fruit consumption has actually dropped a little since the beginning of the decade.
September 10, 2010
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report showing that most Americans still don’t eat enough vegetables and fruit consumption has actually dropped a little since the beginning of the decade. Healthy People 2010 objectives for fruits and vegetables include targets of increasing to 75% the proportion of persons aged ≥2 years who consume two or more servings of fruit daily and to 50% those who consume three or more servings of vegetables daily. To assess states’ progress over the past decade (2000–2009) in meeting these goals, the CDC analyzed data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).
In 2009, an estimated 32.5% of U.S. adults consumed fruit two or more times per day, with the highest percentage in DC (40.2%) and the lowest in Oklahoma (18.1%). The percentage of adults who consumed vegetables three or more times per day was 26.3%, with the highest percentage in Tennessee (33.0%) and the lowest in South Dakota (19.6%). Thus, no state met either of the Healthy People 2010 targets related to fruit and vegetable consumption among adults. Twelve states and DC had 35–45% of adults who consumed fruit two or more times per day, compared with no states that had 35–45% of adults who consumed vegetables three or more times per day.
From 2000 to 2009, the overall prevalence of consuming fruit two or more times per day decreased slightly, but significantly, from 34.4% to 32.5%. Slight but significant increasing linear trends for fruit consumption were observed in four states, decreasing trends in 22 states and DC, and no significant change in 24 states. The prevalence of consuming vegetables three or more times per day did not change significantly during this period (26.7% in 2000 and 26.3% in 2009). Slight but significant increasing trends were observed in 11 states and DC, decreasing trends in 14 states, and no significant change in 25 states. Idaho was the only state that had significant, although slight, increases in both fruit and vegetable consumption, whereas 10 states had slight but significant decreases in both proportions.
These findings underscore the need for interventions at national, state, and community levels, across multiple settings (e.g., worksites, community venues, and restaurants) to improve fruit and vegetable access, availability, and affordability, as a means of increasing individual consumption.
Report