AIM: To examine whether higher fruit and vegetable intake reduce the risk of age-related cataract (ARC) in middle-aged and elderly people. METHODS: Totally 360 cases aged 45-85 years old who were admitted to hospital for intraocular lens implantation for cataract suffered from lens opacity were investigated from September 2009 to March 2011, and controls (n=360) were patients who had been admitted to the same hospital for diseases not related with cataract. Cases and controls were matched with 1∶1. All subjects were interviewed using a structured interviewer-administrated questionnaire that included information on socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle habits and detailed medical history. Simultaneously, fruit and vegetable intake were assessed with the use of a validated, semi-quantitative food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ). The odds ratios (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) of ARC were estimated using multiple logistic regression models. RESULTS: After adjusting for multiple potential confounders, intake of fruit, vegetable and total fruit and vegetables were inversely associated with ARC. Compared to controls in the lowest quartile, the risk of ARC for cases in the highest quartile of intake decreased for 19% (OR=0.81, 95%CI: 0.67-0.97), 19% (OR=0.81, 95%CI:0.69-0.94) and 29% (OR=0.71, 95%CI:0.60-0.93), respectively. The risk of ARC decreased with higher intake of fruit (P=0.014), vegetable(P<0.001) and total fruit and vegetables (P=0.023). A stratified analysis according to smoking and diabetes showed a significant inverse trend between fruit and vegetable consumption and risk of ARC among never smokers and non-diabetics. CONCLUSION: Increased consumption of fruit and vegetable may have a protective effect on ARC, and a healthy well-balanced diet may possibly be beneficial to ARC.