Eat Your Peas! Americans Not Eating Enough Vegetables, New Report Says
Tom Diemer
Correspondent
Posted:
09/9/10
It's all because you didn't eat your vegetables as a kid. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Americans still don't eat enough vegetables, and they're consuming a little less fruit than they were a decade ago.
The government study said in 2009, 32.5 percent of adults in the United States consumed two or more servings of fruit or juice in day -- compared to 34.4 percent who had that much in 2000, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
Vegetable consumption is stagnant. About 26 percent ate veggies three or more times a day -- the same as in 2000, according to a large telephone survey conducted by the center. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of cancer and other diseases, the CDC says. Government food experts say most adults should ideally eat four servings of vegetables and three servings of fruit daily (a single apple would amount to a serving).
No immediate word on the report from First Lady Michelle Obama, who is promoting on anti-obesity program for children that includes efforts to improve nutrition in school cafeterias. But a previous occupant of the White House, former President George H. W. Bush, famously proclaimed his distaste for one particular green vegetable 20 years ago. "I do not like broccoli," he said. "I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it."
The government study said in 2009, 32.5 percent of adults in the United States consumed two or more servings of fruit or juice in day -- compared to 34.4 percent who had that much in 2000, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
Vegetable consumption is stagnant. About 26 percent ate veggies three or more times a day -- the same as in 2000, according to a large telephone survey conducted by the center. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of cancer and other diseases, the CDC says. Government food experts say most adults should ideally eat four servings of vegetables and three servings of fruit daily (a single apple would amount to a serving).
No immediate word on the report from First Lady Michelle Obama, who is promoting on anti-obesity program for children that includes efforts to improve nutrition in school cafeterias. But a previous occupant of the White House, former President George H. W. Bush, famously proclaimed his distaste for one particular green vegetable 20 years ago. "I do not like broccoli," he said. "I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it."