Few Eating Enough Fruits, Veggies

CDC: Most Americans Falling Short of Recommended Daily Servings of Fruits and Vegetables

By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Health News

Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD

Sept. 29, 2009 -- Only 14% of U.S. adults and 9.5% of U.S. teens meet the government's goals for eating enough fruits and vegetables, according to a new CDC report.

The key goals are to eat at least two daily servings of fruit and at least three daily servings of vegetables.

The CDC today released its first state-by-state list that shows how widely (or scarcely) those goals are being met.

Here is how the states and Washington, D.C., ranked in terms of the percentage of adults who met the goals for eating fruits and vegetables.

The list runs from the lowest to the highest percentage of adults meeting both of those goals. States that tied are listed together.

1. Mississippi: 8.8%

2. Oklahoma and South Carolina: 9.3%

3. Alabama: 9.8%

4. South Dakota: 10.1%

5. West Virginia: 10.3%

6. Kansas, Kentucky, and North Carolina: 10.6%

7. Arkansas and Missouri: 11.2%

8. Louisiana: 11.5%

9. Minnesota: 11.6%

10. Michigan and Nevada: 11.8%

11. Ohio: 12.2%

12. Delaware and Iowa: 12.3%

13. New Mexico: 12.5%

14. Idaho: 13.0%

15. Tennessee: 13.1%

16. Utah: 13.2%

17. Georgia and North Dakota: 13.3%

18. Indiana: 13.5%

19. Illinois and Wisconsin: 13.7%

20. Alaska: 13.9%

21. Nebraska: 14.0%

22. Virginia: 14.2%

23. Texas: 14.3%

24. Montana: 14.5%

25. Rhode Island and Wyoming: 14.6%

26. New Jersey: 14.9%

27. Pennsylvania and Washington state: 15.1%

28. Colorado: 15.2%

29. Maryland: 15.4%

30. Florida and Oregon: 15.6%

31. Arizona and California: 16.1%

32. Connecticut and New Hampshire: 16.2%

33. Massachusetts: 16.4%

34. New York: 16.5%

35. Hawaii: 17.5%

36. Maine: 17.7%

37. Vermont: 17.9%

38. Washington, D.C.: 20.1%

Data came from government health surveys conducted in 2007.

SOURCES: CDC: "State Indicator Report on Fruits and Vegetables, 2009."

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