Vegging Out

Most Americans report easy access to fresh produce, less than half eat it regularly. Why? 

While the vast majority of Americans report having easy access to affordable fresh fruits and vegetables, only less than half of them eat the recommended daily servings per day, says a Gallup poll examining Americans and their health habits. The survey, which polled 176,544 adults over the six-month time period from January to June 2010, indicates a trend in the decline of fresh produce consumption, as previously recorded by Gallup for the time frame between 2008 and 2009.

A decade ago, the U.S. government’s Healthy People by 2010 initiative was launched with the goal of getting 75 percent of Americans to eat two servings of fruit and 50 percent to eat three servings of vegetables daily by 2010. Since 2000, Americans have actually declined in terms of produce consumption, and according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), as of 2009, less than a third (32.5 percent) of Americans hit the goal for fruit consumption, while just about a quarter (26.3 percent) achieved the goal for consuming vegetables.

Susan Levin, MS, RD, Director of Nutrition Education at Washington, DC-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, says that the public needs more information detailing the importance of eating more produce.   

“This poll tells me that as a dietitian I need to do more to educate the public on why they should be eating more fruits and vegetables,” she tells demodirt.com. “If 92 percent of people claim to have easy access, then healthcare professionals and educators need to find ways to motivate people to buy the produce and eat it!”  

The trend toward eating fewer and fewer fruits and vegetables, Levin says, is “fairly grim.” Citing the CDC, Levin notes that in 1996, only over a third (about 35 percent) of Americans ate two servings of fruits and vegetables or less, followed by only 40 percent in 2007.   

Money and the chemically addictive nature of some processed foods, she contends, are at least partly to blame for the trend. 

“I think that access to cheap, fatty, salty foods is vast,” she notes. “Apples, oranges, and broccoli don’t trigger addictive cravings the way those other foods do. So, we need to educate people on why eating fresh produce is beneficial, and why it’s worth fighting through the cravings for fatty foods.”  

Which Americans are the ones who fall into the 46 percent that are eating produce regularly?

Citing the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Levin names several groups that are more likely to practice different or healthier eating habits than their peers; there are race, sex, educational and SES-related differences.

“Statistically, women consume more vegetables while men consume more fruits,” she says. “Hispanics consume the least amount of vegetables but the highest amount of fruits. College grads and people who have the highest income levels consume the most fruits and vegetables compared with lowest education and income levels who consume the least amount of both.”

Not surprisingly, people who are overweight or obese have the lowest levels of fruit and vegetable intake.

And, while many parents lament their difficulties getting their children to eat fruits and vegetables over junk food, there are some kids that are more likely to prefer the healthier choices.

“Research shows that vegetarian children consume more fruits and vegetables and fewer sweets and fast foods compared with their non-vegetarian peers,” Levin notes.

To get more Americans to join their health-conscious counterparts, Levin advises a “multi-pronged approach to nutrition education.”

“We need healthcare professionals, including doctors, to be discussing dietary changes with their patients,” she contends. “We need schools to be providing nutrition education in the classrooms. We need the government to stop subsidizing the least healthful foods—dairy, sugar, meat—and start ensuring that the foods the USDA promotes in its own guidelines are actually present in school cafeterias and in other federal food programs.”

Corporations should also take responsibility for their influential marketing aimed at promoting unhealthy items to children, Levin adds.

“And if industry doesn’t want to regulate itself, the government is going to have to step in and do it for them,” she maintains. “That means citizens are going to have to pressure their local, state, and federal representatives because on the issue, because the chances of politicians turning against the industries that fuel their campaigns is slim. Votes are just as valuable as money in a democracy.”

If the people don’t get behind improving health habits in America, the health consequences—many of which are already prevalent—are serious, Levin warns.

“Sixty-seven percent of Americans are overweight or obese,” she explains. “One in three kids is overweight and one in three kids will develop type 2 diabetes in his or her lifetime. Half of us die of cardiovascular disease, a largely preventable disease. In the States alone, 23.6 million people have diabetes and 57 million more have pre-diabetes.”   

The Gallup poll and other evidence suggest that these alarming trends are not reversing any time soon, and Americans are putting their health in the hands of the medical and drug industries, rather than taking charge of their well-being themselves.

“We are getting heavier and sicker every day,” Levin says. “The only ‘improvements’ we are seeing are in the pharmaceuticals and medical procedures that keep us alive longer, but do absolutely nothing to address quality of life.”  

The answer to better health and reversing disease, she concludes, requires less effort and money than people expect.