Eating Fruits, Veggies: What Is Considered Typical?
By John Dodge
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Americans need to do a much better job of eating fruits and vegetables, but what does a typical person consume in a day?
Federal dietary guidelines--which will be updated this year--recommend at least four servings each of fruits and vegetables.
A typical American might eat about two or three, according to data compiled by the Centers for Disease Control.
Even worse, 38 percent of Americans eat little or no fruit at all in a day. About 20 percent fail to eat vegetables.
In Illinois, 36 percent no fruit each day. One in 4 don't eat at least one vegetable.
That puts Illinois residents at slightly better than the national average for fruit--but still makes all of us in need of a salad for lunch today.
Even the healthiest states in the United States have work do.
Oregon overall does the best job of eating at least one serving of a vegetable, but 15 percent don't eat any. New Hampshire and California are the best fruit eaters, but 30 percent skip it each day.
The worst state is Mississippi. A stunning 50 percent of residents eat less than one serving of fruit. The state is in dead heat with Louisiana as the worst vegetable-eating state. About a third of residents eat less than a serving.
A serving is generally defined as a half-cup of cut fruit or vegetables, or a cup of leafy greens or medium-sized piece of whole fruit.
Poor diet, which includes a lack of fruit and vegetable consumption, is a direct cause of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and hypertension, federal health officials say.
More than a third of Americans suffer from a cardiovascular disease, including more than 70 million with hypertension, and 11 percent are diabetic.
Another 70 million Americans' blood pressure readings just below those people with hypertension.