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ARS Home » Plains Area » Grand Forks, North Dakota » Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center » Healthy Body Weight Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #262046
Title: You are what you read? Fruit and vegetable MyPyramid recommendations are underrepresented in Sunday sales circulars

Author
item KRANZ, SIBYLLE - Purdue University
item Jahns, Lisa
item JOHNSON, LUANN - University Of North Dakota
item Whigham Grendell, Leah
item SCHEETT, ANGELA - University Of North Dakota
item HOVERSON, BONITA - University Of North Dakota
item PAYNE, COLLIN - New Mexico State University

Submitted to: Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Conference
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/10/2010
Publication Date: 3/17/2011
Citation: Kranz, S., Jahns, L.A., Johnson, L., Whigham Grendell, L.D., Scheett, A., Hoverson, B., Payne, C.R. 2011. You are what you read? Fruit and vegetable MyPyramid recommendations are underrepresented in Sunday sales circulars. Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology Conference. 25:989.25.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Population studies consistently show that Americans fail to meet MyPyramid recommendations for fruits (whole, not juice) and vegetables. Some age and gender groups approach recommendations for fruit intake (mostly through consumption of fruit juice) and most Americans underconsume vegetables. We investigated potential causes for the consistent lack of fruit and vegetable intake by examining a local grocery store chain’s weekly, printed Sunday advertisements. Fruits and vegetables were categorized as canned, dried, fresh, fried, or frozen. Results showed that of the total food items advertised (n=9,216), vegetables ads (n=818) accounted for 6.8-10.3% of all ads every month. The types of vegetables advertised during the year were: 27.9% canned, 2.3% dried, 50.6% fresh, 1.1% fried, and 18.1% frozen. No seasonal pattern was observed. In a given month, the most frequent ad was for fresh vegetables (59%). In contrast, ads for fruits (n=631) represented 6.1-7.8% of total ads with 41.8% canned, 2.8% dried, 51.0% fresh, and 4.3% frozen. More ads were observed for fresh fruits in June, July, and August (highest observed frequency: 65.3%). Overall, we found that two of the most underconsumed food groups in the US are dramatically underrepresented in weekly advertisement flyers, which might contribute to low consumption.