Generally speaking, Americans still are not eating enough
fruits and vegetables. The Healthy People 2010 national targets are for 75% of
the population to eat at least two servings of fruit, and 50% to consume at
least three servings of vegetables daily. Some new data show they will not
reach those goals.
In late September 2009, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) released its
“State Indicator Report on Fruits and Vegetables, 2009,” a state-by-state
review of fruit and vegetable consumption. Unfortunately, as a nation, only 33%
of adults are meeting the target daily consumption level of two servings of
fruit, and 27% for three servings of vegetables. On average, only 14% of adults
consume the recommended amounts of both food categories each day, and only 9.5%
of adolescents do. This is not a very good report card.