A report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that less that one third of Americans are eating the recommended daily allowances of fruits and vegetables. The government data says that this shift in eating habits has been the same for more than a decade.

The recommended daily allowance for fruits and vegetables is two servings a day but the new diet survey indicates the Americans are way behind.

CDC said that its new target is - to get 75 percent of Americans to eat two servings of fruits and having half of the population consume three servings of vegetables each day by 2010. Only 27 percent of adults eat vegetables three times a day, and about 33 percent eat fruit twice a day.

AP quotes Dr. Larry Cohen from CDC as saying, "We're really concerned with the lack of success in meeting these national goals." The agency is however hopeful that the goal is "within reach."

The survey also found that elderly people consumed more veggies than their younger counterparts who ate the fewest. Older people also consumed the most fruit with nearly 46 percent eating two or more servings a day.

The least fruit was consumed by people from 35 to 44 years of age, with fewer than 28 percent eating the recommended amount of fruit each day. CDC recommends fruits and vegetables since they are not only lower in calorie but also have minerals and fiber that help protect us against chronic diseases and cancer.