American health

How Healthy Are You?

I’m going to use the word “poll,” but don’t run for the hills. Thisisn’t about a political poll, it’s about two separate health polls that reveal the difference between the way U.S. citizens perceive the
quality of their diets, and how healthy their diets actually are.

In a recent telephone poll of more than 1,200 adults called at random, nearly 70 percent said they were careful about what they eat either most or all of the time.

But another poll of nearly 2,500 adults revealed that only 15 percent eat the recommended minimum of five servings of vegetables each day. And 60 percent of those surveyed said that
eating only one to four servings of vegetables daily is adequate for a healthy diet. Only 12 percent said they eat five servings every day.

In addition to five vegetables per day, the USDA recommends two to four daily servings of fruit. The recommended servings of both fruits and vegetables are expected to rise when the USDA releases its updated guidelines next year.

So be honest now. How would you answer those same poll questions? Do you believe your diet is healthy? Are you eating enough fruits and vegetables?

In the second survey, 80 percent of the participants said they expected to live at least into their 70s, and more than 40 percent expect to reach their 80s. But their chances for doing so probably aren’t realistic unless they start filling their shopping carts with fewer chips and crackers and more fresh produce.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute

Sources:
“Poll: Americans See Themselves as Healthy” The Associated
Press, 9/8/04, wjz.com
“Americans Don’t Eat Healthy” The Associated Press, 8/23/04,
wjz.com