ONE APPLE A DAY - FRUIT AND VEGETABLE INTAKE IN THE WEST OF SCOTLAND

An examination of the dietary intake of a community sample of people i n early and late middle age resident in the West of Scotland showed th at the mean weekly intake of fruit was 6.4 portions (SD +/- 5.3) and o f vegetables was 10.1 portions (SD +/- 4.7). Fruit and vegetable intak e (FVI) was higher in non-smokers (compared with smokers), owner-occup iers (compared with non-owner-occupiers), women (compared with men), h igh income households (compared with low and moderate income), adults aged 59-60 (compared with those aged 39-40) and non-manual social clas ses (compared with manual social classes). However, in every socio-dem ographic category examined (even those with comparatively high FVI) th e majority of respondents fell far short of the WHO recommendation for fruit and vegetables of 400 g per day and no more than 4% in any subg roup examined met or exceeded the WHO's recommendation. FVI was found to be associated with some dietary items (a positive correlation is se en with consumption of chicken, and a negative correlation with sausag es and pies). Higher intakes of FVI were also positively associated wi th intakes of antioxidant vitamins and non-starch polysaccharides, and a lower percentages of energy derived from fat. These results suggest that simplistic health education attempts to increase FVI without con sidering overall eating patterns are unlikely to be successful.