The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – the CDC – have written a state-by-state report on the average intake of fruits and vegetables. It’s online at their website. The report lists the states according to their percentage of people meeting the goals set in the NIH's Healthy People 2010, where “75% of persons aged 2 years and older should consume at least two daily servings of fruit”, and “50% should consume at least three daily servings of vegetables, with at least one-third being dark green or orange vegetables”. That, simplified, is “Five-A-Day”.
Here are the five best and the five worst states:
Washington DC 20.1%
Vermont 17.9%
Maine 17.7%
Hawaii 17.5%
New York 16.5%
. . . . .
South Dakota 10.1%
Alabama 9.8%
Oklahoma 9.3%
South Carolina 9.3%
Mississippi 8.8%
There’s plenty of room for improvement if we are to take the goals seriously. I’m certainly banging away at the benefits of Five-A-Day, but the economy doesn’t seem to be doing its part.