The quality of the American diet has improved moderately, but there is still a long way to go: report

Destitute diets among Americans are a source of concern, particularly increasing the risk of chronic health problems such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers. A up-to-date study report shows little improvement in diet quality over the past two decades.

However, there is still much work to be done as the number of Americans eating poor-quality diets remains high and dietary disparities persist or widen.

The test The journal Annals of Internal Medicine examined nutritional information from 51,703 adults who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999 to 2020. The study included repeated, 24-hour dietary recalls during which participants reported all the foods and drinks they had consumed the previous day. Participants’ diet quality was assessed using the American Heart Association Diet Scale.

Researchers observed a decrease in penniless diet quality from 48.8% to 37.4%, an raise in intermediate quality from 50.6% to 61.1% and an raise in ideal quality from 0.66% to 1.58%. These positive trend changes may be due to higher consumption of nuts, seeds, whole grains, poultry, cheese and eggs, and lower consumption of refined grains, drinks with added sugar, fruit juices and milk.

However, after analyzing subgroups, researchers found that this improvement was not universal. They observed persistent or widening differences in diet quality based on a variety of factors, including age, gender, race and ethnicity, education, income, food security, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participation, and health insurance.

Although younger adults, women, Hispanics, and those with higher education, income, food security, and private health insurance had the highest dietary quality, it was lower among older adults, men, blacks, and those with lower education, income, lack of food security or non-private health insurance.

“While we have seen modest improvements in how Americans eat over the past two decades, these improvements are not reaching everyone, and many Americans are eating worse. “Our up-to-date study shows that the nation will not be able to achieve food and health equity until we address the barriers many Americans face when it comes to accessing and consuming nutritious food,” said Dariush Mozaffarian, senior author the latest study. Press Release.

“While some improvement, especially lower consumption of added sugar and fruit drinks, is encouraging, we still have a long way to go, especially for people from marginalized communities and backgrounds,” added Junxiu Liu, first author.