MEASURING FRUIT AND VEGETABLE INTAKE - IS 5-A-DAY ENOUGH

Objective: Validation of a self-monitoring 'portions' measurement of f ruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption against a standard of weighed int akes. Design: Component of a randomized controlled trial. Setting: Sub jects attended research centres in Reading and Glasgow for instruction and monitoring but undertook free-living dietary changes at home. Sub jects: A study sample of 42 adult men and women fulfilling the main re cruitment criterion of eating less than five F&V portions/day but cont emplating increasing intakes and providing weighted baseline reported energy intakes exceeding (estimated basal metabolic rate x 1.1). Inter ventions: Subjects attended an intensive group advice session which in cluded the specific relationship of high F&V intake with reduced risk of disease; practicalities; portion definition and measurement recordi ng. The target was to exceed five F&V portions/day for 8 weeks. Main o utcome measures: Self-recorded simultaneous weighed inventories and F& V portion measures. Results: Data from subjects who were not evident u nder-recorders showed correlations between portion and weighed intakes of r=0.73, (P<0.000), although the portions measure tended to under-e stimate intakes. Using 80 g/portion the '5-a-day' concept tends to cre ate false negatives (namely consumption could be greater than 400 g wh ilst recording fewer than five discrete portions) but rarely false pos itives (namely recorded consumption of less than 400 g did not give me asures of more than five discrete portions). Conclusions: The data sug gest that the five portions F&V/day health message, if used in conjunc tion with defined discrete portions, would encourage desirable consump tion exceeding 400 g.