NEW YORK (AP/WMOT) — Tennesseans score dead last when it comes to eating enough fruit and residents are skimping on vegetables as well.
A just released study suggests only 13 percent of Americans are eating the recommended amount of fruit each day, while in Tennessee only 7.5 percent eat the recommended amount.
The findings come from a large, national survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nutrition specialist Dr. Janet Colson of Middle Tennessee State University says residents in the southeastern states routinely score low in nutrition surveys.
She says poverty is an important factor. Colson recalls standing in a grocery store listening to two women discuss buying grapefruit, but then discovering they were $1.25 each.
“And they put those grapefruit’s back, because they realized they could go over and buy two bags of chips for a dollar. So again, when we think about the fact that we in Tennessee don’t eat many fruits, the cost of those fruits and the cost of fresh vegetables really hinders a lot of people.”
Colson says the recommendation for most people is about two cups of fruit per day. She says that may sound like a lot, but a medium to large size apple or banana would be roughly equivalent to one cup.
To learn more, Dr. Colson recommends you visit the choosemyplate.gov website.