NCD Watch

Fruit and Vegetables: Essentials for a Healthy Diet

7 March 2023 (Tue)

A healthy diet is crucial for good health and fruit and vegetables are an essential component of a healthy diet. It helps to protect against malnutrition and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs).The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends adults to consume at least 400gram (g) of fruit and vegetables (i.e. 5 servings of about 80g each) for adult each day. In line with the WHO’s recommendation, the Department of Health (DH) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region urges adults and adolescents aged 12–17 years to consume at least 2 servings of fruit and at least 3 servings of vegetables per day.

There is consistent evidence from epidemiological studies that adequate consumption of fruit and vegetables are associated with lower mortality and reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases (including heart disease and stroke), several common cancers (such as colorectal cancer, liver cancer and lung cancer), type 2 diabetes and chronic respiratory diseases (including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease).

Despite the many health benefits of eating fruit and vegetables, the Population Health Survey 2020–22 observed that less than half (49.4%) of persons aged 15 or above reported daily fruit consumption, with an estimated mean of 1.2 servings per day on the days they ate fruit. While 78.0% of persons aged 15 or above reported consuming vegetables daily, the estimated mean number of servings was 1.3 per day on the days they ate vegetables. Overall, merely 1.5% of persons aged 15 or above (1.4% for males; 1.6% for females) reported consuming at least 2 servings of fruit and at least 3 servings of vegetables daily.

Members of the public are urged to make “2 Plus 3 Every Day” (i.e. eating at least 2 servings of fruit and at least 3 servings of vegetables a day) a habit. Such recommendation can be met from eating fresh (whenever possible), frozen and canned fruit and vegetables (except preserved vegetables, such as salt-cured and pickled vegetables, and fruits with added sugar or naturally high in fat).

DH will continue organising health promotional campaigns using a variety of strategies to increase people’s heath literacy and awareness about the importance of healthy eating including eating a lot of fruit and vegetables in prevention of malnutrition and NCDs. For more information about “2 Plus 3 Every Day” or healthy fruit and vegetables recipes, please visit the thematic webpage at https://www.chp.gov.hk/en/static/100011.html.

Source: NCD Watch April 2023