Measuring fruit and vegetable intake: is five-a-day enough?
OBJECTIVE
Validation of a self-monitoring "portions' measurement of fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption against a standard of weighed intakes.


METHODS
Component of a randomized controlled trial.


METHODS
Subjects attended research centres in Reading and Glasgow for instruction and monitoring but undertook free-living dietary changes at home.


METHODS
A study sample of 42 adult men and women fulfilling the main recruitment criterion of eating less than five F&V portions/day but contemplating increasing intakes and providing weighted baseline reported energy intakes exceeding (estimated basal metabolic rate x 1.1).


METHODS
Subjects attended an intensive group advice session which included the specific relationship of high F&V intake with reduced risk of disease; practicalities; portion definition and measurement recording. The target was to exceed five F&V portions/day for 8 weeks.


METHODS
Self-recorded simultaneous weighed inventories and F&V portion measures.


RESULTS
Data from subjects who were not evident under-recorders showed correlations between portion and weighed intakes of r = 0.73, (P < 0.000), although the portions measure tended to under-estimate intakes. Using 80 g/portion the "5-a-day' concept tends to create false negatives (namely consumption could be greater than 400 g whilst recording fewer than five discrete portions) but rarely false positives (namely recorded consumption of less than 400 g did not give measures of more than five discrete portions).


CONCLUSIONS
The data suggest that the five portions F&V/day health message, if used in conjunction with defined discrete portions, would encourage desirable consumption exceeding 400 g.
Cox
D N
DN
Institute of Food Research, Earley Gate, Reading, UK.
Anderson
A S
AS
Reynolds
J
J
McKellar
S
S
Mela
D J
DJ
Lean
M E
ME
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D004032:Diet; D015930:Diet Records; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014675:Vegetables