Greeks, Cypriots behind the Irish...in fruit and veggies, despite famous Med diet

Greeks and Cypriots are lagging behind their northern European counterparts when it comes to the daily consumption of fruit and vegetables despite their famous Mediterannean diet, trailing behind countries like Ireland and the Netherlands.

According to recently published data by Eurostat for 2019, the percentage of people over 15 years of age with a daily consumption of 5 or more portions of fruit and vegetables in Greece and Cyprus was under 15% and 10% respectively.

Among the EU Member States, the highest daily intake of 5 portions or more was reported in Ireland (33% of the population), the Netherlands (30%), Denmark (23%) and France (20%).

The lowest daily intake was found in Romania, where only 2% of the population ate at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables, followed by Bulgaria and Slovenia (both 5%) and Austria (6%).

Women and Men
Women’s daily intake of fruit and vegetables is higher than that of men: on average, 58% of women reported eating 1 to 4 portions compared to 51% for men. The same was true for a daily intake of 5 portions or more (15% vs 10%).

The survey also showed that more men than women reported skipping their fruit and vegetable intake altogether (39% vs 27%).

In 2019, 1 in 3 people (33%) in the EU reported not consuming any fruit or vegetables daily and only 12% of the population consumed the recommended 5 portions or more daily. On average, over half of the EU population (55%) said they ate between 1 and 4 portions of fruit and vegetables daily.