Web site with the aim to bring the produce industry together to support non-profit organizations that benefit children in need, as well as educate kids and parents on the health benefits of eating fresh fruits and vegetables.
Archive for category Fruits and vegetables
Produce for Kids
Dec 19
80 overweight adults attended a nutritional counseling program during 6 months of follow-up at a primary health care center in Brazil. The increase of 100 g/d of vegetables and fruits represented a body weight loss of 500 and 300 g after 6 months, respectively. The findings support the relevance of increased intakes of fruits and vegetables that may help avoid weight gain in overweight adults.
A 26-item FV (12 fruit and 14 vegetable) food frequency questionnaire was answered by 1255 low-income adults, with ages from 18 to 24. After a stage-tailored intervention the total intake of fruits rose to 2.73 from 2.33 cups/d and vegetables rose to 1.87 from 1.62 cups/d. Also a significantly greater variety in number of fruit items was found 9.5 vs 9.1 before intervention; and for vegetable items over the past year reached 11.5 vs 11.2 before.
Meeting the 5 A Day recommendation was more likely in subjects aged 50 years and older, higher education levels, nonsmokers, moderate alcohol drinkers and in women engaging in regular physical activity. This is based on 4,282 24-hour dietary recalls.
2,479 people were recruited from 22 family doctors practices in North Carolina. Some prevalent perceptions about contextual factors related to dietary intake included taste-bud fatigue (boredom with commonly eaten foods), life stresses, lack of forethought in meal planning, current health status, economic status, the ability to garden, lifetime dietary exposure, concerns about food safety, contradictory nutrition messages from the media, and variable work schedules.
7 age-stratified focus groups were undertaken with Australian men aged 18-40 years. The participants discussed factors influencing their consumption of F&V, and identified potential approaches to promote these foods to young men. Factors affecting the consumption of F&V included taste and satiety, perishability, ‘invincibility’ to health risk, passive consumption of foods, and the low ranking of F&V in men’s culture. The younger men (18-25 years) were more likely to report socio-cultural barriers. Their recommendations include product revamping and packaging for fruit.
Certain breast cancer survivors who load up on fruits and vegetables, eating far more than current U.S. guidelines, can slash their risk the tumors will come back by nearly a third, according to a U.S. study released on Monday. Find the abstract here: http://jco.ascopubs.org/cgi/content/abstract/JCO.2008.16.1067v1
634 children aged 7-Â11 years participated in this 2001 study from Leeds. The intervention included teacher training, modification of school meals, and the development of school action plans targeting the curriculum, physical education, tuck shops, and playground activities. Main outcome include BMI, diet and physical activity. Vegetable consumption by 24 hour recall was higher in children in the intervention group than the control group. There was no difference in body mass index, other psychological measures, or dieting behaviour between the groups.
A study by University of Maryland researchers suggests that school-based interventions can help increase children’s consumption of fruits and vegetables. Prior to the educational intervention, 93 percent of students were not eating the recommended five daily servings of fruits and vegetables. Following the intervention, 60 percent of students increased their taste for fruits and vegetables, and 50 percent maintained a higher-than-average intake. Read more about the FRESH project here: http://www.sph.umd.edu/fmsc/res/documents/ProjectFreshcombinedflierswebpost3.28.08.pdf
Cabbage & Cancer
Dec 13
Although recent comprehensive reviews of numerous studies have purported to show the specific protective role of cruciferous vegetables, and particularly Brassicas, against cancer risk, the current epidemiological evidence suggests that cruciferous vegetable consumption may reduce the risk only of gastric and lung cancers. However, there is at present no conclusive evidence that the consumption of cruciferous vegetables attenuates the risk of all other cancers.