Consumption of fruits, vegetables among adults inadequate: Survey

Bengaluru: Consumption of fruits and vegetables among adults is inadequate, with 98.4 per cent of those surveyed consuming less than five servings per day, while more than two in five adults and one in four adolescents do insufficient physical activity, stated an ICMR survey released on Monday.

According to the National Noncommunicable Disease Monitoring Survey (NNMS), which was released by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, more than one in every four adults and 6.2 per cent adolescents were overweight or obese.

It said almost three out of ten adults had raised blood pressure, 9.3 per cent had raised blood glucose, average daily intake of salt was 8 gms, while two in five adults had three or more risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

The results also showed that, one in every three adults and more than one-fourth proportion of surveyed men used any form of tobacco and consumed alcohol in past 12 months respectively, the Health Ministry said.

Among the surveyed population aged 30-69 years, the proportion who had ever undergone screening for oral cancer (men and women) were 1.7 per cent, the report stated.