Diets that follow the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) are associated with higher intakes of nutrients of concern

Abstract

We updated the Dietary Guidelines for Americans Adherence Index (DGAI) to reflect changes between the 2005 and 2010 DGA. The DGAI_2010, a continuous score (range 0–100), measures adherence to the key dietary recommendations of the 2010 DGA. General linear models adjusted for age, sex, and energy intake were used to examine cross‐sectional associations between DGAI_2010 median scores across quintile categories and continuous measures of nutrients of concern (calcium, vitamin D, potassium, dietary fiber) identified in the 2010 DGA in 1562 men and 1768 women of the Framingham Offspring Study. DGAI_2010 median scores were 87.0 in the highest quintile category and 19.7 in the lowest. Subjects in the highest DGAI quintile category were more likely to be women, non‐smokers, older (56.8 vs 52 years), have a lower BMI (26.9 vs 28.1) and had significantly (p<0.0001) higher dietary intakes of all four nutrients than subjects in the lowest quintile category (i.e., calcium 879 vs 646 mg/d; vitamin D, 6.2 v. 3.8 mcg/d; potassium, 3.6 vs. 2.5 g/d; fiber, 13 vs. 7 g/1000 kcal/d). However, the mean intakes of the subjects in the highest quintile category were still below the Dietary Reference Intakes. Including dietary supplements increased intakes of calcium (1009 vs 697 mg/d) and vitamin D (9.6 vs. 5.9 mg/d). It may be difficult to meet requirements for shortfall nutrients in the face of such low DGA compliance without supplementation.