--- title: Fruits and Vegetables: 90% of Americans Don't Eat Enough description: The vast majority of Americans are not eating enough fruits and vegetables, according to a new report from the CDC. canonical: https://time.com/5029164/fruit-vegetable-diet/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-17T15:46:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:08.752Z article:section: Health og:title: About 90% of Americans Don't Eat Enough Fruits and Vegetables og:description: Veggie consumption is especially low og:url: https://time.com/5029164/fruit-vegetable-diet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc1de819f431aedb7/6988e6464ee262577730fd3c/fruits-and-vegetables.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5616 og:image:height: 3159 og:image:alt: Fruit and veggies og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: About 90% of Americans Don't Eat Enough Fruits and Vegetables twitter:description: Veggie consumption is especially low twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc1de819f431aedb7/6988e6464ee262577730fd3c/fruits-and-vegetables.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # About 90% of Americans Don't Eat Enough Fruits and Vegetables > Sponsored content. 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Health Matters is TIME's daily health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free daily newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ## Video: Parasocial Relationships: How Admiring a Celeb Might Be Healthy [Watch (HLS stream): Parasocial Relationships: How Admiring a Celeb Might Be Healthy](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/YQnKt3Qu.m3u8) (5:52)  _Published 2023-07-13. There’s a good chance that you—yes, even you—have had a parasocial experience. Ever yell at the football player on your TV who just fumbled the ball, even though you knew he couldn’t hear you? That’s an example of a parasocial interaction, which can progress into a parasocial relationship—typically defined as a one-sided social and emotional connection developed with fictional characters or celebrities._  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Nov 17, 2017 3:46 PM UTC  Fruit and vegetable stand. Fruit and vegetable stand. Christopher Kimmel—Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Nov 17, 2017 3:46 PM UTC The vast majority of Americans are not eating enough fruits and vegetables, according to [a new report from the CDC](https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6645a1.htm?s%5Fcid=mm6645a1%5Fw&utm%5Fsource=STAT+Newsletters&utm%5Fcampaign=f26644060f-MR&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fterm=0%5F8cab1d7961-f26644060f-150444909). The most recent edition of the [Dietary Guidelines for Americans](https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/) recommends that adults consume 1.5 to two cups of fruit per day, and two to three cups of vegetables per day. According to the CDC’s data, however, just 12.2% of American adults are meeting the standard for fruit, and 9.3% are meeting the standard for vegetables. On average, the report adds, Americans are eating fruit once per day and vegetables 1.7 times per day. --- ### More from TIME --- The numbers vary slightly state by state, but even the leading regions fall far short of the guidelines. People in Washington, D.C. eat the most fruit, with 15.5% of adults meeting the guidelines, and Alaska leads vegetable consumption with 12% compliance. On the flip side, only 7.3% and 5.8% of people in West Virginia are eating enough fruits and vegetables, respectively. Across the board, the study found, women eat more produce than men, and young adults eat fewer fruits and vegetables than other age groups. [It’s important to get these numbers up](http://time.com/4616518/how-to-get-americans-to-eat-vegetables/), according to the CDC, because [plant-heavy diets](http://time.com/4346551/vegan-diet-vegetarian/) have been shown to reduce the risk for everything from type 2 diabetes and obesity to cardiovascular disease and some types of cancer. To increase consumption, the report says, the U.S. should aim to lower costs, expand access and improve education efforts. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5029164/fruit-vegetable-diet/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5029164/fruit-vegetable-diet/"},"headline":"About 90% of Americans Don't Eat Enough Fruits and Vegetables","datePublished":"2017-11-17T15:46:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:04:08.752Z","description":"The vast majority of Americans need to eat more produce","url":"https://time.com/5029164/fruit-vegetable-diet/","keywords":["Diet & Nutrition","Vegetables","CDC","fruit","fruits","healthy diet","onetime","healthytime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc1de819f431aedb7/6988e6464ee262577730fd3c/fruits-and-vegetables.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc1de819f431aedb7/6988e6464ee262577730fd3c/fruits-and-vegetables.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Fruit and veggies","caption":"Fruit and veggies","creditText":"Christopher Kimmel—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/dietnutrition/","name":"Diet & Nutrition"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5029164/fruit-vegetable-diet/","name":"About 90% of Americans Don't Eat Enough Fruits and Vegetables"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Parasocial Relationships: How Admiring a Celeb Might Be Healthy","description":"There’s a good chance that you—yes, even you—have had a parasocial experience. 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