Americans arent getting their greens.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report Thursday showing fewer than a third of American adults are eating even the bare minimum recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables.

Thats three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit a day. A serving translates to about one-half cup for most fruits and veggies, and one cup for leafy greens such as lettuce.

Not surprisingly, older Americans are more likely to be getting the proper amounts. But not by much. Only a bit more than one-third of seniors reported eating three or more servings of vegetables a day.

The worst group? Those ages 18 to 24. Only about one-fifth of that group are eating right.

The government has a goal to get 75 percent of Americans on the nutrition bandwagon by 2010.

Good luck.

The current rates havent changed in 13 years.

But national health officials arent giving up. They say more education is needed.

One wonders how much more. We Americans are already bombarded with information about diet, obesity, exercises and other components of a healthy lifestyle.

And we are also deluged by ads for fast foods, junk foods, soft drinks, alcohol, restaurants and sugary sweets.

I guess we know which ads are more effective, eh?

Whats the answer?

Well, some would say it has to come from parents setting good examples and insisting their examples be followed. Back to families eating meals together and proper training for a lifetime.

Sound s good, but it didnt work even in the good old days. If it had, we would have a lot more adults raised in just this way who would be eating right.

The best tactic may be for health officials to hire the same advertising geniuses that are promoting junk food.

At least then they may have a fighting chance.