In a new federal report, researchers say most U.S. adults are eating at least some fruits and vegetables every day, but plenty aren’t.
During 2021 to 2023, the most recent available data, about 70% of adults age 20 and older said that they ate any fruit or drank 100% fruit juice on a given day—leaving roughly 30% of American adults who reported not eating a single piece of fruit or drinking any fruit juice. 93% said they ate a vegetable. The data are collected by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) as part of an annual health and nutrition survey that includes 5,000 adults and children.
The latest numbers are similar to the dietary patterns revealed by the previous survey conducted from 2015 to 2018, though fruit intake is slightly up while vegetable intake is down. In that survey, 67% of adults ate fruit on a given day, and 95% ate a vegetable.
In the latest survey, more women than men consumed fruit on a given day (74% vs. 66%). About the same proportion of women and men ate vegetables, but the type differed; while 42% of women reported eating a dark-green vegetable, only 34% of men did. Dark-green vegetables are rich in vitamins and minerals that can help the heart, brain, and bones.
People with higher family incomes were more likely to eat fruits and vegetables than those with lower incomes. Across income groups, however, dark-green vegetables were the least commonly consumed kind.
While the report shows that Americans are maintaining the amount of fruit and vegetables in their diets, what they’re eating still falls below federal nutrition guidelines, which recommend about 2 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of vegetables daily. (One small apple is about one cup of fruit, and one medium carrot is about a half cup of vegetable.) 31% of adults reported consuming 100% fruit juice as their fruit allocation, which nutrition experts say isn’t as beneficial as eating whole fruits, which provide fiber as well.
The NCHS survey does not include analysis of what drives people to eat fruit and vegetables, but cost is likely to play a factor in consumption patterns. While food inflation remained low from 2015 to 2019, the pandemic caused a jump in food prices, with 3.5% average increases in grocery prices overall in ensuing years.
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