US adults and adherence to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA)

Abstract

We examined adherence to the DGA in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring at exam 5 (1991–1995) and over a decade later at exam 8 (2005–2008). The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans Index (DGAI_2010) measures adherence to the key dietary recommendations of the 2010 DGA. The DGAI_2010 is a continuous score (range 0–100), a higher score indicates greater adherence to the DGA. Means and t‐test were used to examine differences in DGAI_2010 scores between the two exams. At exam 5 Offspring participants with complete dietary data (n=3330) had a mean age of 58.2 years (range 19.7 to 87), and a mean BMI of 27.4 kg/m2 (range, 14.4 to 53.7). Fifty‐three percent were women, 19% smoked regularly, and 27.6% took multivitamins. A decade later, Offspring (n=2642) had a mean age of 66.3 years (range 40 to 92), and a mean BMI of 28.2 kg/m2 (range, 13.8 to 56.4). Fifty‐five percent were women, 8.5% smoked regularly, and 60% took multivitamins. We observed a modest but significant difference in adherence to the DGA between the two time periods. At exam 5 the DGAI_2010 median=58.2 (range 19.7 to 87.0) and at exam 8 DGAI_2010 = 59.8 (24.1 to 85.5) (P<0.001). Restricting the analysis to participants with valid dietary data at both exams (n=2302) did not materially change the results. Dietary improvements as measured by adherence to the DGA were observed in U.S. adults.