The best way to keep a healthy diet of at least "five a day" fruit and vegetables is to have a strategy, according to a new study.
The findings come from a Portuguese study of the ways in which people succeed or fail at eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
Researchers looked at the effects of obstacles to healthy eating and the ways that people can overcome these, as well as the impact of keeping track of daily eating choices and trying to stay "on target".
The team recruited 203 participants, mostly women, aged 18 to 50 years. Online questionnaires were completed weekly for three weeks. Participants indicated how strongly they felt that eating the recommended daily intake would benefit their health, ways in which they might achieve this goal, whether they planned to achieve it, how they might overcome barriers, and how motivated they felt. They also reported their actual intake of fruit and vegetables.
Analysis showed that the keys to good intentions were: understanding the health benefits of eating fruit and vegetables, and having the confidence in their ability to do so.
But the best results were seen in those who had strategies to deal with obstacles.
It was also helpful to keep track of daily food intake, and to make the effort to regulate these choices. Full results can be seen in the British Journal of Health Psychology.
Dr Cristina Albuquerque Godinho of Lisbon University, Portugal, headed the study. "We found that having strategies in place to deal with a range of eating situations that could undermine good intentions is very important, and helps people to regulate their daily dietary choices," she said.
"Planning menus or taking fruit to the workplace are examples of strategies some people use to help them achieve their goals."
Godinho, C. A. et al. Will is Not Enough: Coping Planning and Action Control as Mediators in the Prediction of Fruit and Vegetable Intake. The British Journal of Health Psychology 18 December 2013 doi:1111/bjhp.12084/abstract
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