Press Release: pbhfoundation.org - Fruits & Vegetables, Produce for Better Health Fnd.

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Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
September 29, 2009

CONTACT:

Jill LeBrasseur, Communications Specialist
Produce for Better Health Foundation
5341 Limestone Rd.
Wilmington, DE 19808
302-235-2329
Fax: 302-235-5555

New Report Summarizes Fruit & Vegetable Consumption Data by State

Report also Highlights Environmental Supports and Policies to Improve Diet

Wilmington, Del. - Today, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the State Indicator Report on Fruits and Vegetables, 2009. This document summarizes data for fruit and vegetable consumption from multiple sources and, for the first time, breaks the results down by state. It also discusses policies and environmental supports that can make it easier for everyone to eat more fruits and vegetables. 

The State Indicator Report shows that all states in the country fall short of national objectives for consumption of fruits and vegetables, which aim for 75 percent of Americans to eat at least 2 servings of fruit, and for 50 percent of Americans to eat at least 3 servings of vegetables daily.

Nationally, CDC supported state surveys indicate that only 33 percent of adults are meeting the recommendation for fruit consumption and 27 percent are meeting the vegetable recommendation. On average, only 14 percent of American adults consume at least 2 servings of fruit and at least 3 servings of vegetables each day. The statistics are even worse for high school students – 32 percent of them report eating at least 2 fruit servings daily and 13 percent say they eat at least 3 vegetable servings each day. On average, only 9.5 percent of American adolescents consume at least 2 servings of fruit and at least 3 servings of vegetables each day.

“A diet high in fruits and vegetables is important for optimal growth in children, weight management, and the prevention of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers,” said Elizabeth Pivonka, Ph.D., R.D., president and CEO of Produce for Better Health Foundation, the nonprofit entity behind the Fruits & Veggies—More Matters national public health initiative. “The State Indicator Report on Fruits and Vegetables clearly shows that, while some areas are doing a better job of encouraging and increasing fruit and vegetable consumption, policies need to be implemented or improved to promote healthy eating to both children and adults. The Fruits and Veggies—More Matters website, fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org, can act as a resource to assist in these efforts.”

While all states are well below recommendations, those states doing a better job of eating their 2 or more fruit servings and 3 or more vegetable servings are:

Adults

1. District of Columbia – 20.1 percent
   
2. Vermont – 17.9 percent
   
3. Maine – 17.7 percent
   
4. Hawaii – 17.5 percent
   
5. New York – 16.5 percent
   
6. Massachusetts – 16.4 percent
   
7. Connecticut and New Hampshire – 16.2 percent (tie)
   
8. Arizona and California – 16.1 (tie)
   

Adolescents

1. Vermont – 11.4 percent
   
2. Florida – 10.9 percent
   
3. Connecticut – 10.4 percent
   
4. Kansas and New Hampshire – 10.1 percent (tie)
   
5. Illinois and Maine – 10.0 percent (tie)
   
6. Hawaii – 9.2 percent
   
7. Indiana and District of Columbia – 8.8 percent (tie)
   

Among the states most in need of improving fruit and vegetable consumption are:

Adults

1. Mississippi – 8.8 percent
   
2. Oklahoma and South Carolina – 9.3 percent (tie)
   
3. Alabama – 9.8 percent
   
4. South Dakota – 10.0 percent
   
5. West Virginia – 10.3 percent
   
6. Kansas – 10.6 percent
   
7. Kentucky and North Carolina – 10.8 percent (tie)
   
8. Arkansas and Missouri – 11.2 percent (tie)
   

Adolescents

1. Arkansas – 5.2 percent
   
2. North Carolina – 6.0 percent
   
3. Kentucky – 6.1 percent
   
4. South Carolina – 6.3 percent
   
5. Wisconsin – 6.7 percent
   
6. Alaska and Oklahoma – 7.0 percent (tie)
   
7. Maryland and Ohio – 7.2 percent (tie)
   
8. Arizona, Michigan and Utah – 7.4 percent (tie)

Adolescent Data Unavailable for: California, Colorado, Delaware, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington.

“Eating a diet that includes a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables provides a wide range of valuable nutrients important to health. Based on this state by state data, every single state has a great deal of room for improvement,” said Pivonka. “When you remember that all product forms count; fresh, frozen, canned, dried and 100 percent fruit and vegetable juice, it really is easy to add more fruits and vegetables throughout the day.”

To learn more about Fruits & Veggies—More Matters, find great tips for getting kids to eat fruits and vegetables, and get delicious recipe ideas, visit the Fruits & Veggies-More Matters website, www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org. The website also features a Video Center that outlines proper storage methods and demonstrates healthy, fast recipe preparation step by step. It offers other fun and useful tidbits of produce information and makes adding more fruits and vegetables to meals and snacks easy and delicious.

The State Indicator Report on Fruits and Vegetable, 2009 is available from CDC’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpao/) at http://www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/indicatorreport.
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Note to editors: for a print or web quality image of the Fruits & Veggies—More Matters logo, contact Jill LeBrasseur at jlebrasseur@pbhfoundation.org.
About Produce for Better Health Foundation
Produce for Better Health Foundation (PBH) is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) consumer education foundation whose purpose is to motivate more people to eat more fruits and vegetables to improve public health. PBH is a member and co-chair of the National Fruit & Vegetable Alliance (NFVA), consisting of government agencies, non-profit organizations, and industry working to collaboratively and synergistically achieve increased nationwide access and demand for all forms off fruits and vegetables for improved public health.  This vision of the NFVA is a nation in which half of the foods Americans eat are fruits and vegetables.  Fruits & Veggies—More Matters is the nation’s largest public-private, fruit and vegetable nutrition education initiative with Fruit and Vegetable Nutrition Coordinators in each state, territory and the military.
PBH’s mission is to lead people to eat more fruits and vegetables because it matters for their better health. The foundation achieves success though industry and government collaboration, and a variety of marketing and nutrition education programs. To learn more, visit www.pbhfoundation.org and www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org.  

 

via pbhfoundation.org

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