Even as the health experts preach the need for eating five servings of fresh fruits and vegetables per day, most adults in the country fail to do so. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report despite efforts by the federal health officials there has been a minimal impact on the fresh fruit and vegetable consumption amongst the people. A diet high in fruits and vegetables helps in weight management. This in turn cuts the risk of several diseases like heart disease, some cancers, stroke, chronic lower respiratory diseases and diabetes, federal health officials say.

Healthy People 2010 fruit and vegetable objectives, an initiative by the federal health agency is pushing for 75 percent of Americans to eat at least two servings of fruit daily and 50 percent to eat at least three servings of vegetables daily. But the reality is very different. The report shows that 67.5 percent of U.S. adults ate less than two servings of fruit daily, and 73.7 percent ate less than three servings of vegetables daily.

Interestingly not one of the 50 states met these objectives. While only one state increased both fruit and vegetable consumption, 10 states actually decreased in produce consumption.

Medicine