Quality of American Diets Has Improved, but More Is Needed
The quality of the American diet has improved modestly, but the number of adults with a poor-quality diet remains high, according to a study published in Annals of Internal Medicine (June 2024). Researchers analyzed data on 51,703 adults who responded to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2020. They were given a diet score based on higher intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, nuts, seeds and legumes, and lower intake of sugar-sweetened beverages, processed meat, saturated fat, and sodium. Less than 40% adherence was scored as poor, 40% to 79.9% was intermediate and at least 80% was ideal. Over 20 years, the proportion of adults with a poor diet decreased from 48.8% to 37.4%. There were increases in those with an intermediate-quality diet (from 50.6% to 61.1%) and an ideal diet (from 0.66% to 1.58%). The researchers noted that while there have been gains, the proportion of Americans with a poor-quality remains high.
