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The growing obesity epidemic in
the United States has raised
questions among many health pro-
fessionals: Do the overweight eat
differently from thinner people? Do
the obese and overweight choose
different foods, or consume larger
quantities, or both? Is obesity a
result of metabolism and activity
level?
One of the major nutrition cam-
paigns in the last decade has been
to urge Americans to eat more
fruits and vegetables in terms of
quantity and variety. As a starting
point in exploring the effects of eat-
ing habits on body weight, re-
searchers with USDA’s Economic
Research Service examined the re-
lationship between consumption of
fruits and vegetables and obesity.
We wondered if people who eat
more fruits and vegetables are
thinner than those who eat lesser
amounts. We hypothesized that
people who work to incorporate nu-
trient-dense, low-fat fruits and veg-
etables in their diets will work to
keep their weights at healthy lev-
els. We found a negative relation-
ship, or inverse association, be-
tween fruit consumption and body
mass index: people who eat more
servings of fruit each day have
lower body mass indices. Surpris-
ingly, we found no consistent rela-
tionship between vegetable con-
sumption and body mass index, es-
pecially among children.
Analysis Includes School-Age
Children and Adults
USDA’s 1994-96 Continuing
Survey of Food Intakes by Individ-
uals (CSFII) was the source of our
food consumption data. This survey
asked respondents to recall what,
when, where, and how much they
ate over 2 nonconsecutive days.
Parents or guardians of children
28
FoodReview
, Vol. 25, Issue 3 Economic Research Service, USDA
Biing-Hwan Lin (202) 694-5458 bin@ers.usda.gov
Rosanna Mentzer Morrison (202) 694-5411 rosanna@ers.usda.gov
The authors are agricultural economists with the Food and Rural
Economics Division, Economic Research Service, USDA.
Higher Fruit Consumption Linked With
Lower Body Mass Index
Biing-Hwan Lin and Rosanna Mentzer Morrison
Healthy weight children,
both girls and boys,
consumed significantly
more fruits than
overweight children.
Credit: PhotoDisc.
younger than age 13 completed the
survey for their children. We also
incorporated data from the 1998
CSFII, which is a supplemental
survey of 5,559 children from birth
through age 9. Our analysis in-
cludes responses from 4,709 men
and 4,408 women age 19 and older,
883 adolescents age 13-18, and
2,181 children between age 5 and 12.
Survey respondents were also
asked their or their children’s
height and weight. Self-reporting of
weight and height can be subject to
misreporting or wishful thinking,
but face-to-face interviews, such as
the CSFII, tend to lessen misre-
porting. These two measures were
used to calculate a respondent’s
body mass index (BMI). BMI is cal-
culated as a person’s weight in
kilograms divided by his or her
height in meters squared. Health
authorities have established specif-
ic ranges of BMI values to define a
person as underweight, healthy
weight, overweight, or obese. These
values apply to both men and
women. Children and adolescents
are classified as overweight or at
risk of becoming overweight if their
BMI values exceed age and sex-
specific BMI values established by
the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC).
In the sample, 43 percent of
men and 28 percent of women were
overweight, as defined by a BMI
between 25 and 29.9. Another 17
percent of men and 19 percent of
women were obese (BMI of 30 or
above). Results of the 1999 Nation-
al Health and Nutrition Examina-
tion Survey indicate an estimated
35 percent of adults are overweight
and an estimated 27 percent are
obese. The 1994-98 CSFII data
show that 14 percent of boys and
girls age 5-18 were overweight
(BMI above the 95th percentile of
the CDC pediatric growth charts).
Another 18 percent of boys and 13
percent of girls were at risk of be-
coming overweight (BMI between
the 85th and 95th percentiles). Na-
tional figures from CDC show
about 13 percent of children and
adolescents are overweight.
USDA’s Agricultural Research
Service (ARS) maintains a pyramid
servings database that expresses
food consumption, both single food
items and combination dishes, in
terms of the number of servings.
The database makes it possible to
compare intake data with dietary
recommendations in USDA’s Food
Guide Pyramid by converting
grams of food into servings of 30
different food groups, including
fruits and vegetables. Thus, we are
able to total all vegetables and
fruits eaten, whether as a single
item or as a component in a veg-
etable stir fry or a fruit tart. We
Economic Research Service, USDA
FoodReview,
Winter 2002 29
Servings
Servings
School-age boys School-age girls
Men
Total
vegetables Other
vegetables White
potatoes Fruits Total
vegetables Other
vegetables White
potatoes Fruits
Total
vegetables Other
vegetables White
potatoes Fruits Total
vegetables Other
vegetables White
potatoes Fruits
Women
Figure 1—Overweight Children and Obese Adults Eat Less Fruit Than Their Healthy-Weight Counterparts
Note: ***,**, and *=indicates difference from healthy weight is statistically significant at 1-percent, 5-percent, and 10-percent probability.
Source: Calculated by USDA's Economic Research Service using 1994-96 and 1998 CSFII data.
At risk of overweight Overweight
Healthy weight
Overweight Obese
Healthy weight
1.2***
2.5***
1.2*** 1.3***
1.3*
0
1
2
3
4
5
0
1
2
3
4
5
2.9 3.0
1.4
3.9 3.9 3.9
2.5
1.31.4 1.6*** 1.6 1.5 1.2***
2.9 2.9
2.1 2.2*2.0
.8 .8 .9
1.5 1.5 1.3**
3.0
2.6 2.4**
1.3
1.6 1.4 1.5
2.4 2.3 2.3
1.3 1.2 1.1 1.1
1.0 1.5
1.3
1.6
1.5
conducted two analyses of fruit and
vegetable consumption, as ex-
pressed in servings consumed per
day. First, we compared the aver-
age consumption by weight status.
Then we examined the effect of
fruit and vegetable consumption on
BMI, controlling for the effects of
age, gender, and race.
Fruit Consumption Varies by
Weight Status, But Not
Vegetable Consumption
In the analyses, we looked at
four produce categories: total fruit,
including fruit juices; total vegeta-
bles, including vegetable juices;
white potatoes; and vegetables ex-
cluding white potatoes (other veg-
etables). Much of the white pota-
toes eaten in the United States are
in the form of french fries—not ex-
actly a low-fat vegetable option in
the same company as kale,
spinach, and sweet potatoes.
We analyzed CSFII data to ex-
amine whether healthy-weight in-
dividuals consume different
amounts of fruits and vegetables
than overweight or obese individu-
als. The CSFII respondents were
grouped according to their age and
gender. Children not yet attending
school were excluded from the
analysis. To preserve sufficient ob-
servations in the analysis, we di-
vided the sample into four
groups—school-age boys, school-age
girls, men, and women. Children
were classified into three weight
classes—healthy weight, at risk of
overweight, and overweight. Adults
were divided into three weight
classes—healthy weight, over-
weight, and obese. About 2 percent
of the adult CSFII respondents
were underweight, and they were
excluded from the analysis.
We found differences between
the amounts of fruits eaten by
healthy-weight people, overweight
people, and the obese, but we found
weak correlation between body
weight status and vegetable con-
sumption (fig. 1). Healthy-weight
and at-risk-of-overweight boys con-
sumed, statistically speaking, the
same amount of total vegetables—
about 3 servings. Overweight boys
consumed less total vegetables (2.5
servings) as well as less white po-
tatoes (1.2 servings) than other
boys. Among men, there were no
significant differences in the con-
sumption of total vegetables among
the three body-weight statuses.
Obese men, however, consumed 1.6
servings of white potatoes, more
than the 1.3 servings consumed by
healthy-weight men and the 1.4
servings consumed by overweight
men. For school-age girls and
women, there were no significant
differences in the consumption of
total vegetables or white potatoes
across the three weight statuses.
However, overweight women did
consume more other vegetables
than obese or healthy-weight
women.
Overweight children and obese
adults of both genders consumed
significantly less fruit than their
healthy-weight counterparts. For
example, overweight girls con-
sumed 1.3 servings of fruit, com-
pared with 1.5 servings of fruit
eaten by healthy-weight girls. In
addition, at-risk-of-overweight girls
also consumed less fruit than
healthy-weight girls. It appears
that fruit consumption is a more
accurate predictor of body weight
status than vegetable consumption.
The Food Guide Pyramid rec-
ommends daily consumption of two
to four servings of fruits and three
to five servings of vegetables. The
recommended number of servings
depends on the individual’s caloric
need, which in turn depends on the
individual’s age, sex, size, and ac-
tivity level. For each subgroup in
the sample, we compared average
consumption as a share of the rec-
ommended servings. The recom-
mended servings were derived
from the individual’s reported
caloric intake. The comparison is
useful especially when caloric
needs of individuals in one body
weight status vary greatly from
the needs of individuals in other
statuses.
Similar to the results for aver-
age servings consumed, healthy-
weight children and adults do not
necessarily consume different
amounts of total vegetables than
their overweight or obese counter-
parts (fig. 2). However, healthy-
weight boys and men consumed
significantly more fruit than either
overweight or obese individuals.
For example, obese men ate just 39
percent of the recommended serv-
ings of fruit, compared with
healthy-weight men who ate 51
percent of recommended fruit serv-
ings. Girls at risk of becoming over-
weight consumed 53 percent of the
recommended servings of fruit, sig-
nificantly lower than the 64 per-
cent of the recommended servings
of fruit consumed by healthy-
weight girls. Obese women con-
sumed 51 percent of the recom-
mended servings of fruit, signifi-
cantly lower than the 57 percent
consumed by other women.
Fruit Consumption Better
Predictor of BMI Than Veggies
As part of our analysis, we have
compared the average consumption
of fruits and vegetables, as serv-
ings or the share of recommended
servings, among the three body-
weight statuses. We examined the
consumption of one food group, for
example, fruits, independently of
the other group. A more accurate
assessment of the relationship be-
tween body weight and food con-
30
FoodReview
, Vol. 25, Issue 3 Economic Research Service, USDA
The weak correlation
between vegetable
consumption and body
mass index might be
explained by the
way many Americans eat
vegetables: deep fried,
topped with high-fat
dressings or sour cream,
or included in high-fat
mixtures.
Credit: PhotoDisc.
sumption requires studying the ef-
fects of fruit and vegetable con-
sumption simultaneously.
One technique economists use
to analyze multiple factors simul-
taneously is regression analysis.
Regression analysis generates coef-
ficients that indicate how closely
the included factors correlate with
the dependent variable—BMI in
this case. Our regression model an-
alyzed the effect of consumption of
fruit, white potatoes, and other
vegetables on BMI when the con-
sumption is changed. The regres-
sion results, or estimated coeffi-
cients, indicate whether fruit and
vegetable consumption are related
to BMI. Statistical tests can be per-
formed to check whether the esti-
mated coefficients are statistically
different from zero. A negative co-
efficient in our model for the con-
sumption of fruits or vegetables
means that an increase in con-
sumption is linked with a lower
BMI.
In addition to the variables rep-
resenting consumption as a share
of the recommended servings, we
also control for the effects of age,
gender, and race/ethnicity, which
means that we also consider the
fact that body weight is also affect-
ed by these variables. By isolating
the effects of these factors, we can
be more certain about the relation-
ship between BMI and fruit/veg-
etable consumption. Because chil-
dren’s BMI can change greatly over
time, especially among girls during
puberty, children are separated
into three age classes—5-9, 10-12,
and 13 and older. With males and
females separated, the analysis
comprises eight subpopulation
groups: six groups of children and
two groups of adults. Also, it was
found that BMI increases among
young adults and declines among
seniors so that a quadratic term
for age (age squared) is included
for men and women, but not for
children.
The regression results corrobo-
rate the previous results that fruit
consumption more accurately pre-
Economic Research Service, USDA
FoodReview,
Winter 2002 31
0
20
40
60
80
100
0
20
40
60
80
100
Percent of recommended servings
Percent of recommended servings
School-age boys School-age girls
Men Women
Figure 2—Little Correlation Exists Between Vegetable Consumption
and Weight Status
Vegetables Fruits Fruits
Fruits Fruits
Vegetables
Vegetables Vegetables
At risk of
overweight Overweight
Healthy
weight
Overweight Obese
Healthy
weight
Note: ***,**, and *=indicates difference from healthy weight is statistically
significant at 1-percent, 5-percent, and 10-percent probability.
Source: Calculated by USDA's Economic Research Service using 1994-96
and 1998 CSFII data.
39***
47** 51**
83**
48**
70*
75
91 92 92
79 79
57 57
51
80
57 58 64
70 68 72
59
53**
Table 1—Consumption of White Potatoes Positively Correlated With BMI for Adults
Boys Girls Adults
Age Age Age 13 Age Age Age 13
5-9 10-12 and older 5-9 10-12 and older Men Women
White potatoes NS NS NS 1.641NS -1.091.633.721
Other vegetables NS NS NS NS NS NS NS -.381
Fruits NS -1.092-1.133NS NS -.993-.432-.563
Note: NS = not statistically significant.
1, 2, and 3denote statistical significance at 10-percent, 5-percent, and 1-percent probability.
Source: Calculated by USDA’s Economic Research Service using 1994-96 and 1998 CSFII data.
dicts BMI than vegetable consump-
tion (table 1). Among the six
groups of children, the consump-
tion of white potatoes was found to
statistically correlate with the BMI
for two groups of girls—positive
correlation among girls age 5-9 but
negative among girls 13 and older.
The consumption of other vegeta-
bles had no correlation to the BMI
among children.
The correlation between veg-
etable consumption and BMI was
found to be more significant among
adults. Potato consumption is posi-
tively correlated with BMI for both
men and women, and the consump-
tion of other vegetables has a sig-
nificant, negative relationship with
BMI for women. Therefore, adults
whose diets include more white po-
tatoes have higher BMIs. Women
whose diets are higher in other
vegetables have lower BMIs.
Among the eight subpopulation
groups, fruit consumption was
found to have a significant, nega-
tive relationship with BMI in five
groups—boys age 10-12, boys and
girls age 13 and older, men, and
women. Thus, teenagers, boys age
10-12, and adults whose diets in-
clude larger amounts of fruit have
lower BMIs.
How Vegetables Are Eaten
Could Be a Key
Recently, the Produce for Better
Health Foundation conducted a re-
view of scientific research on the
health benefits of eating more
fruits and vegetables. The founda-
tion’s review found evidence to sup-
port a significant association be-
tween fruit and vegetable intake
and health, but more convincing
data is needed for a relationship
between fruit and vegetable con-
sumption and disease prevention.
We know that the development of
overweight and obesity is a long-
term imbalance between energy in-
take and expenditure. The Journal
of Nutrition reported that obesity
is associated with consumption of
foods high in energy density. There-
fore, adding low-calorie fruits and
vegetables to the diet has been ex-
plored as a weight-loss strategy.
Our analysis confirms but also
raises some questions about the re-
lationship between fruit/vegetable
intake and BMI. We found a nega-
tive relationship between fruit con-
sumption and BMI among older
children and adults, but the corre-
lation between vegetable consump-
tion and BMI was found to be not
as strong. We found no consistent
correlation between BMI and veg-
etable consumption among chil-
dren. Adults who consume more
white potatoes are found to have
higher BMIs. Women, but not men,
who consume more vegetables
other than white potatoes have
lower BMIs. Both fruits and veg-
etables are low-fat, if not no-fat,
foods when consumed straight
from the orchard or garden. Ameri-
cans may be eating most of their
fruits raw or in juices, unadorned
with sauces or fried coatings or
baked in pies. On the other hand,
Americans may be deep-fat frying
their vegetables, topping them with
high-fat dressings or sour cream, or
including them in high-fat mix-
tures. Future research on the link
between fruit and vegetable con-
sumption and BMI should explore
how these foods are eaten by sepa-
rating the fruits and vegetables by
preparation: fresh, baked, or fried;
in mixtures; or with other accom-
paniments.
Another explanation for the
link between higher fruit consump-
tion and lower BMI could be that
some people are eating fruit as a
snack or dessert, rather than a
higher calorie candy bar or piece of
cake. If fruits are eaten as a substi-
tute for higher calorie items, this
substitution is likely to result in
lower BMIs. Americans may not re-
gard vegetables as having the
same snack potential as fruits. Fu-
ture research on how fruits and
vegetables are incorporated in our
diets should further explore this
food substitution issue.
According to Elizabeth Pivonka,
president of the Produce for Better
Health Foundation, “A colorful va-
riety of all fruits and vegetables,
healthfully prepared, makes a sig-
nificant contribution to a diet that
promotes good health.” When urg-
ing Americans to “eat 5 a day,” per-
haps nutrition educators need to
remind us to watch how we are
preparing those fruits and vegeta-
bles and how we are incorporating
them in our diets.
References
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. 2000 CDC Growth
Charts: United States, Accessed at
http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/
Epstein, L.H., C.C. Gordy, H.A.
Raynor, M. Bedome, C.K. Kilanows-
ki, and R. Paluch. “Increasing Fruit
and Vegetable Intake and Decreas-
ing Fat and Sugar Intake in Fami-
lies at Risk for Childhood Obesity,”
Obesity Research, Volume 9, Num-
ber 3, 2001, pp. 171-178.
Hyson, Diane. Health Benefits of
Fruits and Vegetables: A Scientific
Overview for Health Professionals,
Produce for Better Health Founda-
tion, 2001.
McCrory, M.A., P.J. Fuss, E. Saltz-
man, and S.B. Roberts. “Dietary
Determinants of Energy Intake
and Weight Regulation in Healthy
Adults,” Journal of Nutrition, Vol-
ume 103, 2000, pp. 276S-279S.
FRFR
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, Vol. 25, Issue 3 Economic Research Service, USDA
