Survey: young U.S. adults say no to veggies, fruits
- From: Earl Evleth <evleth@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:16:30 +0100
With the sugarification of the western diet this survey might
be the same in Europe and the UK
****
Survey: young U.S. adults say no to veggies, fruits
www.chinaview.cn 2007-03-19 13:32:35
BEIJING, March 19 (Xinhuanet) -- A federal health survey has found when
it comes to eating the recommended daily amount of fruits and vegetables
seniors in America are more likely to follow the advice of the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention than young adults.
Fewer than a third of American adults eat the amount of fruits and
vegetables the government recommends, a trend that's stayed constant for
more than 10 years, 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.
Senior citizens were more likely than others to eat three or more
servings of veggies each day, while younger adults, age 18 to 24 -- nearly
four-fifths -- ate the fewest vegetables.
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 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 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.
The federal agency said it doesn't know why people aren't eating more
fruits or vegetables. 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).
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