Apples consistently rank as the top fruit in the United States, with an estimated average of 26.7 pounds per person consumed in 2021. What makes apples so popular is their versatility, eaten fresh but also consumed as juice, canned, dried, and frozen. Fresh apples account for roughly nine pounds per person per year. When eaten fresh, an apple offers more than just a refreshing crunch. With fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants, apples have been linked to a lower risk of various chronic diseases, including heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and even certain cancers. Nearly 15 pounds per person per year (about 1.7 gallons) are consumed in the form of juice. Although apple juice does contain vitamin C and some other micronutrients, it lacks the fiber found in the whole fruit. Apple sauce, and other types of processed apples make up the rest of our annual intake, a little over three pounds per year.

We looked deeper into the consumption of apples and apple-based products in the United States population using detailed information on dietary intakes of Americans. To do this, we used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a large, ongoing study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. The NHANES is a vital tool for dietary surveillance, providing valuable data on food and beverage consumption, nutrient intake, and dietary patterns across the population. NHANES data has been used to track trends in consumption of major food groups like fruits, vegetables, and whole grains over time. It has also been used to assess the prevalence of nutrient deficiencies and identify populations at risk for chronic diseases related to diet, such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. Overall, NHANES plays a vital role in monitoring the health and nutritional status of the U.S. population and providing valuable data for dietary surveillance and public health research. The information gleaned from this ongoing study helps to inform strategies for improving the nation's diet and promoting overall health and well-being.

This visualization is based on statistics on apple and apple product intake estimated from the NHANES dietary survey. First, we identified the different types of apple products being consumed in the U.S. according to the NHANES data. Apples products were grouped into four categories—raw apples, applesauce, juice and non-alcoholic cider, and desserts. Next, in order to analyze the demographic characteristics of individuals who eat each of these different types of apple products, we matched dietary intake data for people who consumed products in these four categories to demographic data, also from NHANES. We computed the prevalence of consumption of each category of apple products across demographic groups in the US population. The demographic variables of interest were race/ethnicity, age, sex, poverty to income ratio, and education attainment. The estimated prevalence values (percent of each demographic group consuming a given apple product) are unweighted. This interactive tool allows you to explore the prevalence of the consumption of different types of apple products across the demographic variables we selected, and across several years of survey data (i.e., NHANES 2005-2006, 2009-2010, 2013-2014 and 2017-2018).