By Maria Cendejas

Wednesday Jan 4, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new European study finds that simply eating fruits and vegetables may not be enough to keep off the weight gain that often comes with age, according to Reuters.

For the study, nearly 374,000 adults in 10 European contries were followed for five years and researchers found those eating the most fruits and vegetables were not less likely to gain weight, when other factors were taken in account.

Plant foods are full of nutrients, vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals, which may help avoid chronic diseases including heart disease and some cancers.

The study was reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and the research was led by Anne-Claire Vergnaud of Imperial College London in the UK.

Some previous studies found overweight people eating more fruits and vegetables seemed to help them to control weight gain. 

Findings of the current study point to the importance of overall lifestyle in maintaining a healthy weight in older people.

For the study, Vergnaud's team looked at dietary and weight information collected from participants between the ages of 25-70 years.

Participants in the study gained about one pound per year on average.

Among men, weight gain generally dipped somewhat as their fruit and vegetable inatke increased. But that link disappeared when other factors like the men's daily calories, exercise habits and education levels were taken into consideration.

Overweight women reported eating more vegetables actually tended to gain more weight over the next five years.  Researchers suspected that these people may be on a weight loss diet, which may not always successfully lead to weight loss for a long term.

Overall, eating vegetables is considered a healthy step to control weight gain. Studies suggest the average consumption of fruit and vetegables per adult per day in the U.S. is 2 to 3 servings.