The Study Says: Un-Healthy Americans

via NYT:

Over the last 20 years, the share of Americans 40 to 74 who eat five fruits and vegetables a day has dropped to 26 percent from 42 percent, according to the latest analysis of an authoritative national survey on health and nutrition.

“The results are disappointing and disturbing,” said the study’s lead author, Dr. Dana E. King, a professor of family medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Dr. King added that because fruits and vegetables are markers of a healthy diet, correlated with consumption of fat and fiber, “not eating them is reflective of a decline in diet over all over 18 years.”

Dr. King focused on middle-age adults because they are at greatest risk for heart disease, but was surprised that even those with diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol were no more likely to adhere to healthy habits.




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