Americans are still
falling short of national dietary recommendations, eating too many sweets and
not enough vegetables and whole grains, according to the CDC.
On a national
healthy-eating index that measured compliance with U.S. dietary guidelines from
2005, the average overall diet score was only about 60 points out of 100 —
"indicating Americans' diets need improvement," Bethene Ervin, PhD, RD,
wrote in a National Health Statistics Report.
The Healthy Eating
Index, or HEI-2005, assesses specific intake of various nutritional categories,
including whole fruits, dark green and orange vegetables, whole grains, milk,
meat and beans, oils, fats, sodium, alcohol, and added sugar.
To come up with the
estimates, Ervin looked at data on 4,448 adults ages 20 and up from the
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003-2004.
She found that
American adults were well below the maximum standard for all the HEI-2005
component scores except for total grains and meat and beans.
Scores for dark green
and orange vegetables and whole grains were particularly poor, reflecting
insufficient intake, she reported, while those for sodium and calories from
sugars and alcohol reflected excessive intakes.
Women's diets appeared
healthier than men's, Ervin noted, as they had better scores on fruit,
vegetable, and discretionary calorie intakes as well as slightly better overall
diets.
The same held true for
older patients, she reported, with adults age 60 and up having better scores
regarding fruit, vegetable, and bad calorie intakes.
Better-educated
Americans — those with at least a high school education — more closely complied
with the recommendations than those who had less education, Ervin reported.
She added that no
racial or ethnic group stood out as having better dietary scores than any
other.
Ervin concluded that
adults need to up their intake of most of the recommended dietary components —
especially dark green and orange vegetables and legumes and whole
grains — while lowering the amount of sodium and calories from sugar and
alcohol consumed.