Americans Say They’re Eating Vegetables, Fruits — but Are They Getting the Most out of Them?

• A new survey reports that people in the United States say they’re eating fruits and vegetables every day.
• Some experts, however, say the survey respondents may be counting items such as french fries as vegetables.
• They also note that the way vegetables are cooked makes a difference in their nutritional value.
• They tell consumers to buy fruits and vegetables fresh when they’ll use them immediately and to purchase canned and frozen items for longer shelf life.

Nearly everybody over the age of 20 in the United States says they are eating some vegetables and two-thirds say they’re eating fruit on a daily basis.

That’s according to a new data release from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics.

The survey findings from 2015 to 2018 suggest daily fruit consumption is down compared to 20 years ago.

While vegetable intake has remained unchanged, there is a caveat. The percentage of adults who consumed dark green, red and orange, other vegetables, and any vegetable types on a given day increased with income.

On the whole, nutrition experts caution against using these findings in making population-wide dietary pattern conclusions.