In France, the first national campaign aimed at promoting the consumption of fruit and vegetables was launched at the end of 2001: 'Eat at least 5 fruit or vegetables per day'. At the same time, a national survey called 'nutrition-health barometer' was conducted by the INPES. As part of this survey, a representative sample of 988 adults (18-75 yrs) were interviewed in Languedoc-Roussillon (LR), a French Mediterranean region, using CATI-system. The objective was to study the opinions, attitudes and behaviours of the population in relation to nutrition and health. Dietary assessment was by mean of a 24-hour recall and a food list. In LR, only 13.2% of the population reported eating at least 5 fruit or vegetables per day and 40.0% reported eating 3 or 4 per day (compared to 11.0% and 35.4% respectively at the national level, p<0.01). Women were closer to the recommendation than men (14.7% vs 11.7%, p < 0.001) as were older respondents (20.6% of 60-75 yr-olds vs 7.6% of 18-29 yr-olds, p < 0.001). Individuals living in small households were more likely to follow the recommendation than others (18.6% in 1 person household vs 8.8% in >4 person household, p < 0.001). Those eating at least 5 fruit or vegetables per day were more likely to believe they eat healthily (15.3% vs 4.3%, p < 0.001), which is supported by better food diversity indices (71.5% have the maximum food diversity indices of 5.0% vs 37.8% in those eating less than 5 fruit or vegetables per day, p < 0.001). These results demonstrate that even in a Mediterranean region, there is a crucial need for interventions aimed at increasing the consumption of fruit and vegetables. (Texte intégral)