Global variability in fruit and vegetable consumption

Authors: JN Hall, S Moore, SB Harper, JW Lynch

Reference: Am J Prev Med 2009; 36(5): 402-409, http://www.ajpm-online.net/article/S0749-3797(09)00097-X/abstract

Summarized by: Juan Ramos, Program Coordinator, ProCor

More than three-quarters of 196,300 adults from 52 mostly low- and middle-income countries consume less than the minimum recommended five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, according to data from the 2002-2003 World Health Survey analyzed in 2008. Countries participating in the survey represented all WHO regions, with 14 countries from Europe, 18 from Africa, six from the Americas, four from the Eastern Mediterranean, five from South-East Asia, and five from the Western Pacific.

Nearly three million deaths and more than 26 million disability adjusted life years were attributable to low fruit and vegetable intake globally, according to previous data from 2000. Further, 31% of ischemic heart disease, 19% of ischemic stroke, 19% of gastric cancer, and 12% of lung cancer worldwide could be prevented by increasing dietary intake of fruits and vegetables to the minimum recommended five daily servings./.../