The Contribution of Discrete Vegetables, Mixed Dishes, and Other Foods to Total Vegetable Consumption: US Ages 2 Years and Over, 2017-2018

Abstract

The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend intake of a variety of vegetables, including dark green, red, and orange vegetables and starchy and other vegetables. This study aims to describe sociodemographic differences in the contribution of different categories of vegetables and the form in which they are consumed (ie, discrete vegetables, mixed dishes, and other foods such as savory snacks to total vegetable intake on a given day). This is a cross-sectional, secondary analysis of the 2017-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. This study included the data of 7122 persons aged 2 years with reliable day 1 24-hour dietary recalls. Serving equivalents of vegetables from 20 discrete categories of vegetables and from mixed dishes and other foods as a percentage of total vegetables. Pairwise differences by age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, and family income were examined using univariate t statistics, and trends by age and income were examined using orthogonal polynomials. Mean serving equivalents of vegetables was 1.4 cups. The serving equivalents increased with age among youth, was higher among non-Hispanic Asian (NHA) persons than other subgroups, and increased with increasing family income. Overall, discrete vegetables contributed 55.2% of total vegetable intake, and the contribution increased with age in adults and with increasing family income. The top 5 discrete vegetable contributors were other vegetables and combinations, french fries and other fried white potatoes, lettuce and lettuce salads, mashed potatoes and white potato mixtures, and baked or boiled white potatoes. Nonstarchy discrete vegetables contributed more to total vegetables for adults (37.6%) than youth (28.0%), and the contribution increased with increasing family income. On the other hand, the contribution of mixed dishes and other foods decreased with increasing family income. Discrete vegetables only contributed 55.2% of total vegetable intake, and the top sources were not varied. Three of them potato based, which may explain the reported low vegetable intake, relative to the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. More than one-third of vegetables consumed were nonstarchy discrete vegetables, many of which are high in vitamins. Nonstarchy discrete vegetable intake was higher in adults than youth and increased with family income.