Fruit and vegetable intake: Few adolescent girls meet national guidelines.
OBJECTIVE
To examine longitudinal changes in daily fruit and vegetable consumption among black and white adolescent girls and calculate the percent of girls who met the Healthy People 2010 recommendations.


METHODS
Girls (1186 black and 1126 white) who participated in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Growth Health Study (NGHS) were included if they had completed a 3-day food diary for at least one of six annual assessments visits, beginning at ages 11 or 12. Mixed models estimated the association of visit and race with (a) average daily consumption of fruits and vegetables and (b) the probability of meeting intake recommendations on one or more out of 3 days.


RESULTS
For girls of both races, fruit and vegetable consumption increased with age; white girls showed a greater increase in fruit and nutrient-rich vegetable intake than black girls. Across visits, girls consumed considerably fewer than the recommended daily servings of fruits (1.0-1.5), vegetables (1.7-2.5), or nutrient-rich vegetables (0.25). Most girls (95%) failed to meet Healthy People 2010 recommendations.


CONCLUSIONS
Public health efforts are needed to meet Healthy People 2010 objectives.
Striegel-Moore
Ruth H
RH
Department of Psychology, Wesleyan University, 207 High Street, Middletown, CT 06459, USA. rstriegel@wesleyan.edu
Thompson
Douglas R
DR
Affenito
Sandra G
SG
Franko
Debra L
DL
Barton
Bruce A
BA
Schreiber
George B
GB
Daniels
Stephen R
SR
Schmidt
Marcia
M
Crawford
Patricia B
PB
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D015930:Diet Records; D004034:Diet Surveys; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000208:ethnology*; D005260:Female; D005638:Fruit; D040361:Healthy People Programs / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D012044:Regression Analysis; D014481:United States; D014675:Vegetables; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data