Age-standardised proportion of adults (16+) who met the recommended guidelines of consuming five or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day by gender. To help reduce the risk of deaths from chronic diseases such as heart disease, stroke, and cancer. The Five-a-day programme was introduced to increase fruit and vegetable consumption within the general population. Its central message is that people should eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables a day; that a variety of fruit and vegetables should be consumed and that fresh, frozen, canned and dried fruit, vegetables and pulses all count in making up these portions. The programme includes educational initiatives to increase awareness of the Five-a-day message and the benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption, along with more direct schemes to increase access to fruit and vegetables, such as the school fruit scheme and community initiatives. Monitoring of fruit and vegetable consumption is key to evaluating the success of the policy, both at the level of individual schemes and at a more general level. The England average, at the 95% confidence level (LCL = lower confidence interval; UCL = upper confidence interval). Related to: National Indicator Library - NHS England Digital (editor note: was https://indicators.ic.nhs.uk/webview/)
