Children and teenagers are eating more fruit than in the past but still don’t consume as much fruit and vegetables as recommended, say scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly, the scientists described a comparison of food intake from 2003 to 2010. “Children’s total fruit intake increased because of increases in whole fruit consumption, but total vegetable intake remained unchanged,” they concluded. “No socio-demographic group met the HP2020 (Healthy People 2020) total vegetable target and only children aged 2–5 years met the total fruit target.
“Because of the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables and because childhood dietary patterns are associated with food patterns later in life, encouraging children to eat more fruits and vegetables is a public health priority,” said the authors. “Increased attention to the policies and food environments in multiple settings, including schools, early care and education, and homes might help continue the progress in fruit intake and improve vegetable intake.”