Eat Your Fruits and Veggies

Kate · Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 8:42 pm Post subject: Eat Your Fruits and Veggies

ATLANTA - Fewer than a third of American adults eat the amount of fruits and vegetables the government recommends, a trend that's remained steady for more than a decade, health officials said Thursday. That's "well below" the government's goal of getting 75 percent of Americans to eat two servings of fruits and having half of the population consume three servings of vegetables each day by 2010, said Dr. Larry Cohen of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The diet survey, part of a huge federal health survey of every state, is based on responses from 305,000 adults in 2005. It indicates the country is only about halfway toward meeting its healthy eating goal three years from now.

"We're really concerned with the lack of success in meeting these national goals," said Cohen, who works in CDC's nutrition and physical activity division.

Although the rate of fruit and vegetable consumption has remained unchanged since 1994, health officials said the goal is still within reach.

"We have more work to do over the next few years," said spokeswoman Rachel Ciccarone.

Specifically the survey showed that 27 percent of adults ate vegetables three times a day, and about 33 percent ate fruit twice a day. A serving size is a half-cup for most fruits and vegetables, one cup for leafy greens.

Senior citizens were more likely than others to follow Mom's advice to eat more veggies, with slightly more than a third of that group eating three or more servings each day. Younger adults, age 18 to 24, ate the fewest vegetables. Nearly four-fifths of that age category scraped the veggies to the side of their plates — if they had vegetables on the plate at all.

Likewise, seniors also ate the most fruit, with nearly 46 percent eating two or more servings of fruit daily. People age 35 to 44 ate fruit the least, with fewer than 28 percent eating the recommended amount of fruit each day.

The federal agency said it doesn't know why people aren't eating more veggies or fruits. Cohen said future surveys will ask people what other foods they are eating.

Susan Krause, a clinical dietitian at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, said people are eating more refined sugars or choosing protein instead of fruits and vegetables.

"There's so much information out there and people get very confused. When they're looking at protein, they feel that's the solution when they're not looking at long-term health benefits," she said. "There's so many fabricated foods now and people are looking at convenience."

Not only are fruits and vegetables lower-calorie, they also have minerals and fiber that help guard against chronic diseases and cancer, the CDC says.

The survey relied on people to report what they were eating. Telephone questioners asked how often they consumed fruit juice, fruit and vegetables. Although Hispanics ate the most fruits (37 percent) compared with blacks and whites, they ate the fewest vegetables, (about 20 percent). Whites, in contrast, ate the fewest fruits (31 percent) but the most veggies (28 percent).

Cohen said the CDC has been working on family and community programs to get more people to eat their veggies. The agency is working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to get more fresh produce into schools.

Krause said health officials should offer people simple options for getting fruits and vegetables in their diets, such as easy recipes in cooking classes and fruit smoothies or shakes in schools.

"If that's a way of getting it in, at least it's in the right direction," she said. "Certainly (whole) fruit is a better choice, but that could be the next alternative."

Source MSNBC
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paulamathers · Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 9:27 pm Post subject:

but do "seniors" eat more fruit because they have prune's and prune juice more than younger people? I dont eat muych fruit and veg because im so tired by the time it get to dinner time that i grab a sandwich or something easy (maybe something that iv cooked and frozen beforehand), but this rarely includes veggies. I try to take fruit to work, but dont eat my 5 a day by a long way. The weird thing is, Keri has fruit and veg every meal - guess i should practice what i preach!!

Kate · Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 7:55 pm Post subject:

I know what you mean Paula. I tend to be the same way, so I take Spiriluna tablets. I'm not wild about winter fruits, but come spring with all the grapes and melons and peaches I go crazy. Vegs are no problem for me, I love them.I'll post my broccoli salad resipe, that lasts for several days. Carrots are fast to cook, peas and coleslaw is an excellent salad with lots of good nutrition.
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paulamathers · Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2007 9:54 pm Post subject:

Me and Keri love broccoli, i'm sure Keri would eat a plate of just that given half the chance!! My favourite is spinach though. Do you have the Popeye cartoon there? My dad used to take the mickey saying i would turn into Popeye if i carried on!

Kate · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 7:01 am Post subject:

That still amazes me, a three year old that loves broccoli!

Yes we have popeye cartoons and a canned spinach that goes by Popeye brand. Erica loves it but I prefer fresh spinach.
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paulamathers · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 8:24 am Post subject:

wow, Popeye brand??? I think if we had that here when i was a kid i would have made my dad buy it! I prefer fresh spinach, i don't think we have canned, but we have frozen. I buy frozen sometimes, buy only if im putting it in a stew or casserole. They're saying now though that frozen vegetables are better for you than fresh, because the frozen veggies are frozen within a matter of minutes, and therefore keep the nutrients that the fresh veggies lose. It makes things confusing because i was always taught that fresh veg is better for you than anything.

Kate · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 4:17 pm Post subject:

I buy frozen vegs a lot, not a big fan of canned vegs. Your right about the frozed, but I buy a lot of my vegs from a local grower.
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paulamathers · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2007 9:22 pm Post subject:

I buy canned sweetcorn, but thats pretty much it. I tend to buy frozen veg because they last longer.

Cyrillia · DishWasher Joined: Aug 11, 2008 Posts: 3

Same here, if I buy something that isn't canned or frozen, it tends to go bad. I did just finish eating a peach though! Smile

paulamathers · Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 12:35 pm Post subject:

Hi Cyrilla
fresh fruit doesn't last long in my house Smile

my daughter eats loads of strawberries and grapes as soon as they're affordable, and I love bananas. It is annoying though how quickly some frech fruit / veg goes off. I brought some nectarines not long ago, and within 3 days of being in the fridge one of them had mould growing on it Sad

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