One apple a day?—fruit and vegetable intake in the West of Scotland

Abstract

An examination of the dietary intake of a community sample of people in early and late middle age resident in the West of Scotland showed that the mean weekly intake of fruit was 6.4 portions (SD ± 5.3) and of vegetables was 10.1 portions (SD ± 4.7). Fruit and vegetable intake (FVI) was higher in non-smokers (compared with smokers), owner-occupiers (compared with non-owner-occupiers), women (compared with men), high income households (compared with low and moderate income), adults aged 59–60 (compared with those aged 39–40) and non-manual social classes (compared with manual social classes). However, in every socio-demographic category examined (even those with comparatively high FVI) the majority of respondents fell far short of the WHO recommendation for fruit and vegetables of 400 g per day and no more than 4% in any subgroup examined met or exceeded the WHO's recommendation. FVI was found to be associated with some dietary items (a positive correlation is seen with consumption of chicken, and a negative correlation with sausages and pies). Higher intakes of FVI were also positively associated with intakes of antioxidant vitamins and non-starch polysaccharides, and a lower percentage of energy derived from fat. These results suggest that simplistic health education attempts to increase FVI without considering overall eating patterns are unlikely to be successful.