Why we need to eat vegetables and what a 'serve' looks like

MOST Australian adults would know they're meant to eat two or more serves of fruit and five or more serves of vegetables every day. Whether or not they get there is another question.

A recent national survey reported 45% of Australian women and 56% of Australian men didn't eat enough fruit. And 90% of women and 96% of men didn't eat enough vegetables. This figure is worse than for the preceding ten years.


The Conversation

Why do we need so many veggies?

A high intake of fruit and vegetables lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some cancers. These chronic diseases are unfortunately common - it's been estimated A$269 million could have been saved in 2008 if everyone in Australia met fruit and vegetable recommendations.




Some recent research even suggests our current targets don't go far enough. It estimates an optimal intake for reducing our risk of heart disease and early death to be around ten serves of fruit and vegetables a day. Whether we are aiming for two and five, or ten serves, is somewhat academic - the clear message is most of us need to increase our fruit and vegetable intake.

How many serves of fruit and veges to you get each day?

This poll ended on 19 September 2017.

Current Results

I don't eat any fruit or veges


Less than one serve of each


I eat more fruit than veges


I eat more veges than fruit


The recommended two and five


More than the recommended amount



Why is two and five such a hard ask?

The populations of most Western countries report eating far less fruit and vegetables than they're supposed to. So what's making it so hard for us to get to two and five?




How we can increase veggie intake

The home and school environments are two key influencers of children's food preferences and intakes. Parents are the "food gatekeepers" and role models particularly for younger children. Where there is parental encouragement, role modelling and family rules, there is an increased fruit and vegetable intake.

Dietary behaviours and food choices often start in childhood and continue through adolescence to adulthood. So encouraging fruit and vegetable intake in schools by mechanisms such as "fruit snack times" may be a good investment.


Research has found the more variety in fruit and vegetables available, the more we'll consume. Those who meet the vegetable recommendation are more likely to report having at least three vegetable varieties at their evening meal. So increasing the number of different vegetables at the main meal is one simple strategy to increase intake.

This could be made a journey of discovery by adding one new vegetable to the household food supply each week. Buying "in season" fruit and vegetables and supplementing fresh varieties with frozen and canned options can bring down the total cost. Then it's a matter of exploring simple, quick and tasty ways to prepare them so they become preferred foods for the family.

Authors: Genevieve James-Martin is a Research Dietitian, CSIRO, Gemma Williams is a Research Dietitian, CSIRO, Malcolm Riley is a Nutrition Epidemiologist, CSIRO.

This article originally appeared on The Conversation. Read the original here.

The Conversation

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