Americans Not Eating Enough Fruits and Veggies

[Mountain_Mike]

Americans know what to do but aren't doing it. How stupid is that?

Americans Not Eating Enough Fruits and Veggies
National goals for a healthy diet are still not being met, CDC report shows

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, March 15 (HealthDay News) -- Most Americans are still not eating the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables, a new government report shows.

Even though many people know that fruits and vegetables help lower the risk of many diseases, consumption is still a long way from reaching the government goals set in Healthy People 2010, the researchers said. Their bad news is delivered in this week's issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, a publication of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Only 32.6 percent of adults are eating fruit two or more times per day, and only 27.2 percent are eating vegetables three or more times a day," said researcher Dr. Larry Cohen, an epidemic intelligence officer at the CDC.

That falls far short of the national goal of getting 75 percent of the population to eat fruit two or more times a day and 50 percent to eat vegetables three or more times per day by 2010, Cohen said.

The irony is that most Americans are aware of the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables, Cohen said. "However, translating that awareness to actually doing it is lacking."

To get closer to meeting these goals, a vigorous effort is needed to reach out to the public, Cohen said. "We need more measures to educate and motivate people to make healthier dietary choices," he said. "We have to target the family, the community and the overall society, and push policies that have a broad impact."

The data for the report were gathered using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System from 2005. The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System is a survey of people throughout the United States. As part of the survey, people were asked how many servings of fruits and vegetables they ate per day.

Cohen thinks that there are a number of reasons that people aren't eating fruits and vegetables in greater numbers. "It could be due to lack of access, or that some people don't like fruits and vegetables. There could also be cultural reasons," he said.

One expert agrees that an effort to get more people to eat fruits and vegetables is important.

"The new CDC report indicates something we've long known, that fruits and vegetable intake is well below recommended levels," said Dr. David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine.

This is regrettable, Katz said. "These two food categories have the greatest potential of all for promoting health and fighting disease," he said.

Katz thinks that the problem is made worse by the food choices available to most Americans.

"The problem is compounded by price incentives and disincentives that encourage people to eat highly processed foods," Katz said. "It may also be compounded by the popularity of low-carb diets that discourage people from eating fruit."

Katz thinks eating a healthful diet should be a national priority. "There needs to be an effort to find ways to get more people to eat fruits and vegetables and to convince them that it's important for health," he said.

More information

For more information on a healthful diet, visit the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.



SOURCES: Larry Cohen, M.D., Ph.D., U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta; David Katz, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor, public health, and director, Prevention Research Center, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn.; March 15, 2007, Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report

Last Updated: March 15, 2007

Copyright © 2007 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.

[justin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mountain_Mike "It could be... that some people don't like fruits and vegetables."

It could be... VEGETABLES ARE GROSS!

[donheff]

Quote:

Originally Posted by justin It could be... VEGETABLES ARE GROSS!

Vegetables are for sissies. I get mine in a pill.

[Texas Proud]

Have you seen how much fruit cost now

I just bought some blueberries and man... one pound cost me almost $3..

[lets-retire]

You can BUY blueberries?!?! I thought you could only pick them. Who wudda guessed?

[Goonie]

I LOVE fruit and veggies... ...'specially the stuff I grow myself (come on spring!!!).


Usually a banana every day, along with fresh salads, veggies with lunch and supper, fruit juices AND veggie juice.....and those tiny carrot sticks for snacks! Also LOVE nuts...picked up several pounds of pecans when I was in Georgia a few weeks ago! And of course home made pico de gillo.....with lotsa hot peppers!!! Oh, yeah, and garlic...loads o' garlic! Ever had fresh strawberry preserves on garlic bread? That was one of my faves for breakfast as a kid! (still is)

Plus a big ol' bowl of oatmeal every morning for breakfast!

I don't think I ever met a veggie I didn't like!!! Raw, cooked, steamed, baked, roasted...whatever!

Let's hear it for the veggies!!! YEA!!!

[justin]

Are there any cheaper fruits than bananas? Those seem to run ~$.50/lb or half that on sale - about 10-20 cents per fruit. Great for a quick healthy breakfast, even on the run.

I'm always amazed at the apples I buy - $1.50/lb, and each one weighs ~2/3 lb - usually costs me $1 for an apple. I might as well buy a candy bar

My current attempt at healthier eating revolves around eating more fruit with meals or as a breakfast. Those low calorie density foods take the place of the bad-for-you higher calorie density foods that I would otherwise eat.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mountain_Mike Cohen thinks that there are a number of reasons that people aren't eating fruits and vegetables in greater numbers. "It could be due to lack of access, or that some people don't like fruits and vegetables.

Ya think?

Ha

[Goonie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by justin Are there any cheaper fruits than bananas? Those seem to run ~$.50/lb or half that on sale - about 10-20 cents per fruit. Great for a quick healthy breakfast, even on the run.

I get bananas for free a lot of the time! Our local grocer doesn't like having bananas out that are starting to turn brown, so they put them in shopping cart right inside the front door with a sign "FREE...Help Yourself!"....I do!!! They might not be 'pretty', but they're still yummy!!

[mykidslovedogs]

The only vegetable I don't like is Eggplant. I'll eat fruit, but it's not usually my first choice.

[justin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goonie I get bananas for free a lot of the time! Our local grocer doesn't like having bananas out that are starting to turn brown, so they put them in shopping cart right inside the front door with a sign "FREE...Help Yourself!"....I do!!! They might not be 'pretty', but they're still yummy!!

I only like bananas very ripe - brown spots are a minimum for me to enjoy a banana.

[Dude]

a very ripe banana mashed up with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.....mmmmm

[Telly]

Bananas make me gag.

I don't have any problems getting enough vegetables, I like them. Especially from the brassica (sp?) family.

Fruit is a problem, though.

[lets-retire]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goonie I get bananas for free a lot of the time! Our local grocer doesn't like having bananas out that are starting to turn brown, so they put them in shopping cart right inside the front door with a sign "FREE...Help Yourself!"....I do!!! They might not be 'pretty', but they're still yummy!!

When they come off the boats they must be completely green. If there is any yellow they are "thrown" away to the dock workers, who in turn give them to friends and family. I have so many bananas here I'm starting to grow excess body hair and grunt.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

i could've had a v8.

[ladelfina]

Quote:

Ever had fresh strawberry preserves on garlic bread? That was one of my faves for breakfast as a kid! (still is)

That is the most disgusting food combination I have ever heard of! :P :P :P
Once I went to a somewhat upscale restaurant (in the US, not Italy). Everything was great until I was served the dessert which had some strawberry slices as a garnish; I saved these "tasty" tidbits for the last bite, and, gaaaaaaaahhhhhh... :P pphooh pfft feh!

Someone in the kitchen had cut up the strawberry with a knife they'd used to chop garlic.

I didn't end up complaining because I had eaten everything and there was no more 'evidence'. But I'll never go back there, and I remember absolutely nothing about the rest of the meal. The garlic strawberry looms too large.

---
I think part of my incomprehension (and most other people's) with nutritional guidelines stems from the wierd "portion sizes" they've established. On the FDA site, in one place it says "The serving size, determined by FDA, is defined as that portion of food 'customarily consumed per eating occasion.' "

But we all know that's not really so. I don't really know how they come up with it, but it's kinda screwy. Let's say I open a pack of Ramen noodles for a quick lunch. But, hey! That's TWO "servings"! What a pig I am! I should go on a diet and eat more fruit and veg.. but they say I should eat NINE SERVINGS a day (four of fruit and five of veg.). No way am I going to be able to cram in nine...! ...so I just shrug and enjoy my noodles.

Eg., in the article above they say the goal is to get Americans to eat vegetables three or more times a day. Is that realistic? Artichokes and carrots for breakfast?

They really should come up with a better rule of thumb based on rough percentages, and amounts people can relate to.. like cups or handfuls.

Also, instead of giving subsidies and tax breaks to big agribusinesses, the gov. (if it is involved at all) should be trying to support local growers (less transport, so less gas & roads consumed, less pollution, less traffic) and helping set up farmers' markets (maybe on odd, unused gov't. owned land parcels?).. stuff like that. I know that veggies are a lot more inspiring when you see them displayed like this:

rather than this:

[justin]

I prefer the prepackaged "baby" carrots over "fresh" by-the-pound kind. Prewashed, bite size, tender. It's a quick and cheap convenience food that also happens to be very healthy.

[unclemick]

Too late for me - thirty years in New Orleans:

'Ya want that fried shrimp Po-boy dressed Dar -Lin?'

Yeah you rite!

My funeral plan is paid up though.

heh heh heh - Kansas City BBQ anyone? - .

[Outtahere]

Seven to nine servings of fruits and veggies seems like a lot but if you measure it out it's not really much at all. Most people could get at least 7 veggie servings in the salad they have for lunch or dinner. What people relate to is the serving size they eat which is way too much. Heck my dh eats 5 or 6 servings of steak or chicken at every meal, I tried to show him what one serving really was and he thought I wanted to starve him to death. Thankfully he consumes veggies and fruits the same way so I know he gets his 7-9 every day.

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Headline from 2012: "Broccoli...the silent killer..."