More fruit, veggies eaten in U.K. than U.S.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Britons have more access to produce and consume more fruit and vegetables than Americans, a Gallup Poll indicates.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index surveys, conducted from March 1 to Sept. 30, involved 6,893 Britons and 211,232 Americans.

Gallup asked respondents to report on how many days in the last seven they had five or more servings of fruits and vegetables, and whether it is easy or not easy to get affordable fruits and vegetables in the city or area where they live.

High-income Britons were more likely to say it was easy to get affordable fruits and vegetables and were more likely to consume them frequently, compared with those with lower incomes. About 7-in-10 Britons in high-income households reported eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables at least four days each week, but this fell to nearly 6-in-10 among the lowest income households.

Women and all subjects age 65 and older were more likely than are men and those younger than 65 to consume fruits and vegetables. However, easy access to affordable produce is about the same across all demographic groups in Britain.

Britons' better eating habits compared to those in the United States might be part of the reason obesity and chronic conditions such as heart disease rates are lower in Britain than in the United States, Gallup officials said.

The margin of error for the British survey was 1.2 percentage points.