Online programs boost produce consumption

DETROIT, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- An apple day online -- or at least an Internet program that provides tips for eating more produce -- may keep the doctor away, U.S. researchers found.

Senior author Christine Cole Johnson of Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit found that when given access to an online program about fruits and vegetables, participants increased their daily fruit and vegetable intake by more than two servings.

"People already know the health benefits of fruits and vegetables, but they often don't know how to incorporate them into their diet," Johnson said in a statement.

Fewer than 25 percent of U.S. adults eat five servings of fruit and vegetables per day, even though doing so reduces the risk of chronic disease and cancer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The 12-month study recruited members of Health Alliance Plan and four other HMOs in Seattle, Denver, Minneapolis and Atlanta, ages 21-65.

The study involved a control online program that provided general information on improving fruit and vegetable intake, a second group got a similar program but it was personalized to the individual's needs, and a third group got a similar program supplemented with motivational interviewing and counseling by e-mail.

The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, found improvement across all study groups but the most significant changes were with those who got motivational interviewing and counseling.