Awareness of Dietary Guidance and Diet Quality of Adults, What We Eat in America, NHANES 2007–2012

Abstract

The recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans are communicated to consumers through graphics, nutrition messages, and online educational resources. Awareness and use of these food guidance tools may be related to whether the individual is considering or trying to implement dietary recommendations. The purpose of this study is to describe awareness of federal dietary guidance, and to compare the Healthy Eating Index (HEI) 2010 and its 12 components by level of awareness for adults 19+ years. Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) and What We Eat in America (WWEIA), NHANES 2007–12, respectively, were used to determine level of awareness of either the Food Guide Pyramid (FGP) or MyPyramid (MP) and the HEI (N=14,150); MyPlate was not included due to insufficient group sizes. Participants were classified as ‘unaware’, ‘aware’, or as having ‘tried’ either the FGP or MP based on answers to three questions in the NHANES Dietary Behavior Questionnaire. The HEI and its components were compared by level of awareness using paired t‐test. Comparisons were considered significant at P<0.001. When first asked about awareness of MP, almost half were unaware; those unaware were then asked about the FGP. Overall, 22% of adults were unaware of either the FGP or MP, 54% were aware of either, and 25% had tried one or the other. The HEI (mean, (SE)) of those who had tried either the FGP or MP was significantly higher (54.5, (0.49)) than either those aware (49.9 (0.40)) or unaware (49.2 (0.35)) (P<0.001). For HEI components, those who tried the FGP or MP had significantly (P<0.001) better scores for intake of total vegetables, dark green vegetables and legumes, total fruit, intact fruit, whole grains, and empty calories vs those either unaware and aware, and for intake of seafood/plant protein foods vs those unaware. Those who tried or were aware had better scores for dairy intake vs those unaware. There were no differences in component scores for intake of refined grains, total protein foods, fatty acids, or sodium. These results provide insight about how the FGP or MP was implemented by adults, and suggest that nutrition messages provided guidance for individuals actively trying to improve their diet. Further research about MyPlate will provide important feedback about awareness of dietary guidance and its implementation.Support or Funding InformationARS‐USDA