Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

U.S. teens hardly eating any produce

|
|
 
  
File photo. UPI/Stephen Shaver 
License photo
Published: Nov. 29, 2011 at 1:28 PM

ATLANTA, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- U.S. teenage consumption of fruit and vegetables comes nowhere near the recommended four to five servings per day, health officials say.

A report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta found in 2010, median U.S. teen consumption was 1.2 servings per day for both fruits and vegetables.

"In addition, about one in four U.S. high-school students consumed fruit less than once daily, and one in three consumed vegetables less than once daily," the report said.

"A diet high in fruit and vegetables is associated with a decreased risk for many chronic diseases and some cancers and can aid in weight management. Current daily fruit and vegetable recommendations for adolescents who participate in less than 30 minutes of physical activity daily are 1.5 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of vegetables for females and 2 cups of fruit and 3 cups of vegetables for males -- 1 cup is approximately equal to one medium apple, eight strawberries, 12 baby carrots, or one large tomato."

To assess fruit and vegetable consumption among high school students, the CDC analyzed data from the 2010 National Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Study.

Overall, 28.5 percent of U.S. high school students consumed fruit less than once daily, and 33.2 percent of high school students consumed vegetables less than once daily, the CDC report said.

Recommended Stories
© 2011 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Health News Stories
1 of 20
Vietnam Veterans Memorial Visited in Washington
View Caption
Veterans etch the names of their friends inscribed on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War on May 26, 2012 in Washington, DC. More than 58,000 names of the servicemen who were killed or missing in the war are engraved on The Wall. UPI/Pat Benic
fark
Ever find yourself missing Rainforest Crunch? How about Fresh Georgia Peach, or Wild Maine Blueberry?...
The most common grade at American universities is now an A. It's good to know that all our university...
A high school student who stopped some students from bullying a mentally disabled student on the...
Parent upset after snowflake gets 'humiliating' joke award for not doing her homework. If only there...
This farmer thought he had only lost 99 cows, but then he rounded them up
Photoshop these soccer players