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Confronting the challenge of promoting fruit and vegetable intake for obesity management: An alternative approach

International Journal of Obesity (2024)Cite this article

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Fruits and vegetables (F&V) are an abundant source of health-promoting nutrients, such as fiber, water, and micronutrients. F&V intake is linked with enhanced human health across many domains, including lower adiposity in adults [1]. As such, F&V are an integral component of a balanced, nutritious eating pattern [2]. For weight management, F&V are advantageous due to their higher nutrient density and lower energy density. Indeed, incorporation of F&V within a calorie-restricted diet may enhance weight loss [3].

Yet, despite the well communicated benefits of F&V consumption for general health, global trends reveal suboptimal intakes of F&V across adult and adolescent populations [4, 5]. Some of our best efforts of promoting F&V consumption have yielded underwhelming improvements in F&V consumption and been unable to enhance long-term F&V intake adherence [6,7,8,9].

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Gaurav Kudchadkar, Raksa Andalib Hia, Most Arifa Sultan.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Nutritional Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA

    Marleigh Hefner, Gaurav Kudchadkar, Raksa Andalib Hia, Most Arifa Sultan, Holli Booe & Nikhil V. Dhurandhar

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  1. Marleigh Hefner
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  2. Gaurav Kudchadkar
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  3. Raksa Andalib Hia
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  4. Most Arifa Sultan
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  5. Holli Booe
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  6. Nikhil V. Dhurandhar
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Contributions

NVD and HB contributed to conceptualization. NVD, HB, MH, GK, RAH, and MAS performed the review of the literature and contributed to writing. MH wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the manuscript revision, read, and approved the submitted version.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Holli Booe or Nikhil V. Dhurandhar.

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Hefner, M., Kudchadkar, G., Hia, R.A. et al. Confronting the challenge of promoting fruit and vegetable intake for obesity management: An alternative approach. Int J Obes (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-024-01520-8

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