Fruit and vegetable consumption and all-cause, cancer and CVD mortality: analysis of Health Survey for England data

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by John R. Radford.

Abstract

'a strong inverse association between fruit and vegetable consumption and all-cause mortality.'

Main

Oyebode O, Gordon-Dseagu V et al. J Epidemiol Community Health 2014; DOI: 10.1136/jech-2013-203500

This cohort study was carried out with 65,226 adults who were aged 35 years or older and who are part of the Health Survey for England. The participants were followed for an average of 7.7 years. The number of fruit and vegetable portions consumed the previous day were ascertained by an interviewer. A portion comprised 80 g, an average apple. Those who ate seven or more portions of fruit and vegetables had a 33% reduced risk from all-cause, cancer and cardiovascular mortality, compared with those who ate less than one portion a day. Yet over half of the subjects ate less than the present 2003 UK recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables daily. Although the investigators did take into account several confounders, those who consumed more fruit and vegetables were older, less likely to smoke, more likely to be women and of a non-manual household. Strangely, consumption of frozen or canned fruit was associated with increased mortality.