Adults Meeting Fruit and Vegetable Intake Recommendations - United States, 2019.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Cross-sectional population surveillance study (by design analogy to CEBM Level 4)
PubMed 34990439 · doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm7101a1
What was done
The CDC analyzed 2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data across 49 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. They estimated the proportion of the adult population meeting the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendations for daily fruit intake (1.5-2 cup-equivalents) and vegetable intake (2-3 cup-equivalents), overall and by sociodemographic subgroups.
What was found
Overall, 12.3% of adults met fruit recommendations (ranging from 8.4% in West Virginia to 16.1% in Connecticut) and 10.0% met vegetable recommendations (ranging from 5.6% in Kentucky to 16.0% in Vermont). Fruit intake compliance was highest among Hispanic adults (16.4%) and lowest among males (10.1%). Vegetable intake compliance was highest among adults aged ≥51 years (12.5%) and lowest among individuals living below or near the poverty level (income-to-poverty ratio <1.25, 6.8%).
Why it matters
This surveillance report demonstrates that the vast majority of U.S. adults fall short of federal dietary guidelines for fruits and vegetables, with persistent disparities across socioeconomic, demographic, and geographic groups.
Limits
The total sample size is not stated in the abstract. Data rely on self-reported dietary intake from telephone surveys, which are susceptible to recall and social desirability bias. One U.S. state was not included in the dataset, and the cross-sectional design cannot assess longitudinal dietary trends or causal barriers to intake.
Cited by
- supports Only one out of ten Americans currently consumes the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables.