FRIDAY, March 16 (HealthDay News) -- Targets for consumption of fruit and vegetables laid out in the Healthy People 2010 objectives have not yet been met by a single U.S. state, and only about 27 percent of people eat three or more vegetable servings per day, according to a report in the March 16 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Researchers from the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion in Atlanta, used data from the 2005 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to assess whether the target objectives for fruit and vegetable intake had been attained. The data were gathered from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and included questionnaires from 347,278 people.
The Healthy People 2010 targets are to have 75 percent of people aged 2 and older eating at least two servings of fruit a day and 50 percent of people eating at least three portions of vegetables a day. According to the 2005 data, only 32.6 percent of adults ate fruit at least twice a day and only 27.2 percent ate vegetables three or more times a day. Women were better than men in this regard: 22.1 percent of men ate three or more portions of vegetables a day, compared with 32.2 percent of women.
"The results underscore the need for continued interventions that encourage greater fruit and vegetable consumption among U.S. adults," the authors write.
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