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Roughly 90% of United States adults do not eat enough fruits and vegetables, per recommendations set by the . Further research shows that some groups of people — young adults, men and lower-income households — are less likely to eat fruits and vegetables than other groups.

Geb Bastian is an assistant professor in South Dakota State University's School of Health and Human Sciences and an Extension nutrition and health state specialist. As part of his outreach efforts, Bastian develops nutrition education programming that helps promote healthy nutrition, including eating more fruits and vegetables.

Much of this programming is aimed at low-income households, some of which may utilize the USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Notably, Bastian designed and wrote for anyone who wants to teach about nutrition and physical activity. The lesson plans were made with SNAP education in mind.

Recently, Bastian on the sociodemographic factors affecting the purchase of frozen, fresh and canned fruits and vegetables.

"Frozen fruits and vegetables are convenient, cost-effective, reduce food waste and can be just as nutritious as their fresh counterparts," Bastian said. "Despite these numerous advantages, it is unclear which consumer groups are more likely to purchase frozen fruits and vegetables, especially compared with fresh, canned or dried fruits vegetables, which could help inform targeted nutrition education interventions."

As Bastian notes, very little research has investigated what types of people are more likely to buy certain types of fruits and vegetables.

"With frozen foods being just as nutritious as fresh and often cheaper and easier to store for many families, it was worthwhile to explore this research question with an epidemiological approach to better understand which populations might benefit from targeted nutrition education on the benefits of frozen fruits and vegetables," Bastian explained.

By utilizing data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Diary Surveys, Bastian was able to conduct a nationwide analysis of the purchasing habits of different groups. The results showed that households with higher income, higher educational attainment and more children under the age of 18 had higher odds of purchasing any type (frozen, fresh or canned) of fruits and vegetables.

Lower-income households were less likely to purchase frozen fruits and vegetables. But after the researchers controlled for income, they found that households who participate in SNAP actually had increased odds of purchasing frozen vegetables — a cheaper but nutritious choice.

Asian and Hispanic households had higher odds of purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables than white non-Hispanic households and lower odds of purchasing frozen vegetables.

"The results of this exploratory study could inform future research, particularly regarding the factors that influence the frozen fruits and vegetable perceptions of SNAP consumers and Hispanic and Asian households," Bastian said. "Since nutrition educators who teach SNAP participants already promote frozen fruits and vegetables, studies that investigate how SNAP consumers’ perceptions change because of such interventions are also warranted."

Bastian's study, titled " was published by Current Developments in Nutrition — a journal of the American Society for Nutrition.

Contributing authors included Joslyn Russell, Annie Roe and Raveen Rani. Funding was provided by the Frozen Food Foundation.