A recent study shows that people who consume at least three serving

­Let's evaluate each option:

A) Many people who consume at least three servings of fruits and vegetables daily also engage in other healthy behaviors, such as regular exercise and avoiding tobacco use.

• This option highlights that other healthy behaviors might be contributing to the lower incidence of chronic diseases, not just the consumption of fruits and vegetables. This weakens the direct causal link between fruit and vegetable intake and reduced chronic disease incidence.

B) Some fruits and vegetables are high in sugar and may contribute to health issues such as diabetes if consumed in large quantities.

• This option suggests a potential negative effect of consuming certain fruits and vegetables, but it does not directly address the study's findings or the recommendation's overall validity.

C) The study was conducted in a region where the overall diet is different from that of the general population, making it difficult to generalize the findings.

• This option questions the generalizability of the study's findings but does not directly undermine the specific recommendation to increase fruit and vegetable intake.

D) There are several chronic diseases that are primarily caused by genetic factors, which are not influenced by diet.

• This option points out that not all chronic diseases are influenced by diet, but it does not refute the potential benefits of fruit and vegetable consumption for those diseases that are diet-related.

E) The study did not account for the use of supplements, which many participants took in addition to consuming fruits and vegetables.

• This option suggests that the health benefits observed might be due to supplements rather than fruits and vegetables alone, which could weaken the recommendation.

Among these options, A) is the most compelling because it suggests that the observed health benefits might be due to a combination of multiple healthy behaviors rather than fruit and vegetable consumption alone. This significantly weakens the direct causal link suggested by the health organization's recommendation.

Therefore, the answer is:

A) Many people who consume at least three servings of fruits and vegetables daily also engage in other healthy behaviors, such as regular exercise and avoiding tobacco use.­

How do we know that those engage in exercise and non tobacco use are the participants to the recent study....

­You raise an excellent point. We don't know for certain that the participants in the study who consumed more fruits and vegetables were also the ones engaging in exercise and avoiding tobacco use. The option A) presents a hypothetical scenario that, if true, would weaken the recommendation, but you're right to question its validity.

Let's clarify this:

1. The option A) begins with "Many people who consume at least three servings of fruits and vegetables daily also engage in other healthy behaviors..." This is a general statement, not necessarily specific to the study participants.
2. If this statement is true in general, it suggests a potential confounding factor in the study's results. The study might not have controlled for these other healthy behaviors.
3. The key phrase in the question is "if true." We're asked to assume this statement is true and then evaluate how it would impact the recommendation.
4. If it is indeed true that fruit and vegetable consumption often correlates with other healthy behaviors, then the study's results might be attributing too much benefit to fruit and vegetable consumption alone.

You're absolutely correct to question the assumptions in the answer choices. In a real-world scenario, we would want to know:

• Did the study control for other healthy behaviors?
• Was information about exercise and tobacco use collected from participants?
• Was there a correlation between fruit/vegetable consumption and other healthy behaviors in the study population?

Without this information, option A) remains hypothetical. However, if we assume it to be true as the question asks, it still presents the strongest challenge to the recommendation by suggesting that the observed health benefits might not be solely due to fruit and vegetable consumption.

the explanation seems to be not relevant as the explanation given does not clarify, as the explanation is totally based on just assumption and on the same point it negates all the options. Which I seemed to be not appropriate and the explanation also seemed to be flawed.

Here options A and E both weaken the argument. How to select which once is better?

A introduces alternative factors that could explains why people who consume at least three servings of fruits and vegetables daily have a significantly lower incidence of chronic diseases. A suggests that a correlation is not necessarily a causation. Keep.

B is uncertain. What if Some fruits and vegetables are not consumed in large quantities? The impact is not clear. Out.

C is incorrect. Having difficulty doesn’t necessarily mean the study is inaccurate. Even if the study is inaccurate, the reasoning of the passage (the link between consuming at least three servings of fruits and vegetables daily and improving their health and prevent chronic diseases) is still not addressed. This statement is irrelevant. Out.

D Even if D is true, this doesn’t necessarily mean the reasoning is wrong. Out.

E does not have a clear impact. The fact that it does not account for the use of supplements doesn’t necessarily mean that people really take supplements.

Posted from my mobile device

<quote>
<div>E does not have a clear impact. The fact that it does not account for the use of supplements doesn’t necessarily mean that people really take supplements.</div>
</quote>­<br />
The question clearly states that many participants of the study took supplements.

I am not convinced with the explanation about E is not correct.

­You're right. I overlooked this point. I just felt E is odd and eventually chose A. Perhaps, for option E, the fact that the study didn't account for something does not mean that everyone should NOT increase their intake of fruits and vegetables to improve their health and prevent chronic diseases.

for eliminating (C), the explanation is not convincing enough

the option says that the overall diet of the region (& hence the people studied is different), so in a way it's attributing the lower incidence of disease to not just the serving of fruits & veggies but to a combination of factors - different diet + fruits & veggies

and the generalization done, isn't it weakening the recommendation?

What's true of X cannot be true for y
and so if you recommend Y to do everything what X does, Y might not see the same result

isn't it weakening the claim that we cannot recommend the same things for X as we do for Y?

Plus with option (A) we have "many" people, we do not know how many? can be 1/1000 or 999/1000
same with (E)

so b/w A, E and C, C looks a better option

KarishmaB
IanStewart
GMATNinja
MartyMurray

can any expert please comment on this
Thank you

Riya, I would mark (A) here since it is obvious that they are testing the causation/correlation concept here though I would think twice before establishing any takeaways from non official verbal questions, that too of unknown source. The least we need to know is that the source is a genuine GMAT test prep before we invest time in evaluating each option and identifying the pattern.