Updated October 2022

Author: Physical Activity and Nutrition Program, Vermont Department of Health

The amount of fruit needed in the diet depends on age, sex, and level of physical activity. In general, the recommended daily amount of fruit for adults is 2 servings. At every meal, half of the plate should be filled with fruits and vegetables.

In 2019, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) data showed that 36% of Vermont adults age 18 and older reported eating fruit two or more times a day. This is down from the 40% reported by Vermont adults in 2017.

We know that adults with more education and higher annual household incomes are more likely to eat fruit at least twice daily. Adults with at least a college degree are significantly more likely than those with less education to eat fruit two or more times daily. Adults in homes with middle incomes or higher are significantly more likely than those in low income homes to eat fruit at least twice daily. Access (both physical and monetary) to fruits for these populations affects these numbers.

The current measure is below the Healthy Vermonters 2020 target of 45%.

Fruits and vegetables contribute important nutrients to the human body. Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables is associated with a decreased risk of many chronic diseases including obesity, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, and some cancers. Eating fruits and vegetables can also help with weight management.

• Vermont Department of Health District Offices: District office staff promote healthy eating, including fruit, through educational programs, assisting with organizing farmers markets and promoting worksite wellness and other programs that encourage healthy eating.
• Division of Maternal & Child Health, Vermont Department of Health: Through WIC and other programs Vermonters are encouraged to eat fruit and other healthy foods.
• Division of Economic Services Three Squares program, Vermont Department of Children & Families: Three Squares provides funds for groceries to low income Vermonters. This includes opportunities to double the buying power for fresh produce.
• American Heart Association: Promotes fruit consumption as part of good nutrition that prevents heart disease.
• American Cancer Society: Promotes fruit consumption as part of good nutrition that prevents cancer.
• Vermont Farmers Markets: Promote and sell Vermont fruit and accepts Three Squares (electronic balance transfer) benefits for local fruits and vegetables.
• Vermont Food Bank: Makes fresh produce available to Vermonters who use the Food bank and provides information on fruit storage and preparation.

There are several evidence-based strategies that can be used to improve the proportion of adults eating the daily recommended servings of fruit:

• Worksite Wellness programs/policies such as a policy requiring fruits and vegetables to be available at meetings or promotion of subsidized CSAs.
• Healthy Community Design strategies such as incorporating community gardens, farmers markets, and zoning policies for grocery stores to be in central locations that are accessible.
• Electronic Balance Transfer (EBT) for farmers markets

More information can be found in the CDC Guide to Strategies to Increase the Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables.

At the Vermont Department of Health, multiple strategies are being utilized to increase fruit consumption among adults. Small grants have been given to worksites across the state to implement healthy food policies in the workplace. All funded organizations adopted healthy meeting policies, stating that only healthy food, including fresh fruit, would be provided at meetings/events when food is being served.

The Department also worked with communities to evaluate the types of food available at convenience stores and food shelves and provided technical assistance and resources for locations to offer more healthy options, including fruits.

The WISEWOMAN (Well Integrated Screening and Evaluation For Women Across the Nation) program, connects woman with heart health screening services. This program has also connected woman with the Farm to Family program to help improve nutrition and provide access to fresh fruits and vegetables.

The Department distributes the DASH diet, an eating plan rich in fruits and vegetables designed to reduce the risk of many chronic diseases, to primary care staff in Vermont’s patient centered medical homes via the Blueprint for Health’s Program Managers, Practice Facilitators and Community Health Teams. Hard copies from the Department can also be requested by health professionals across the state.

Vermont tracks risk behaviors and chronic disease using a telephone survey of adults called the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS). Since 1990, Vermont, along with the 49 other states, Washington D.C. and U.S. territories, has participated in the BRFSS with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/brfss). The CDC provides the Vermont Department of Health with funding each year to carry out the survey. Several thousand Vermonters are randomly and anonymously selected and called annually, on both landlines and cell phones. An adult (18 or older) is asked a uniform set of questions. The results are weighted to represent the adult population of the state.

Note that beginning in 2011 the CDC implemented changes to the BRFSS weighting methodology in order to more accurately represent the adult population. While this makes calculations more representative of the population, the changes in methodology also limit the ability to compare results from 2011 forward with those from previous years. The Vermont Department of Health recommends that comparisons between BRFSS data from 2011 forward and earlier years be made with caution. Statistical differences may be due to methodological changes, rather than changes in opinion or behavior.

Additionally, in 2017, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) questions pertaining to the consumption of fruit and vegetables were changed from previous years in both how the questions were phrased and the food items the questions asked about. These changes could alter the interpretation of the questions and thus how participants respond to them. As a result, any rates of fruit and/or vegetable consumption calculated from the 2017 BRFSS or later should not be compared to data collected in 2015 and earlier. Differences between data from 2017 forward and earlier years may be due to different interpretations of the survey questions, rather than changes in consumption.

Age adjustment is used for comparison of regions with varying age breakdowns. In order to remain consistent with the methods of comparison at a national level, some statistics in Vermont are age adjusted. In cases where age adjustment was noted as being part of the statistical analysis, the estimates were adjusted based on the proportional age breakdowns of the U.S. population in 2000. For more detailed information on age adjustment visit http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/statnt/statnt20.pdf.

Prevalence and percentages are calculated by using descriptive statistical procedures using software such as SPSS, SAS, and/or SUDAAN. These statistics describe the proportion of individuals with a given trait in the population during a specified period of time.