Changing American Plate

Understanding current dietary patterns and food and nutrient intakes of Americans and changes over time is critical to designing result-based strategies to improve dietary status and ultimately, health. In order to identify selected changes in dietary intakes and eating patterns in the U.S. from national dietary surveys conducted in 1977-78, 1994-98, and 2007-08, 24-hour dietary recalls from individuals 2 years and older were compared. Major changes have occurred not only in food and nutrient intakes but also in dietary patterns over this 30-year time period. Mean daily energy intake for individuals in 2007-08 was 2,070 calories, an increase of almost 200 calories from intakes reported in the late 1970's. The 2010 U.S. Dietary Guidelines encourage Americans to “make half your plate fruits and vegetables.” The mean daily number of reports of fruit and vegetable consumption was 2.6 in 1977-78, 2.0 in 1994-98, and 1.9 in 2007-08. This decline is due to a decrease in reports of vegetables, as the reports of fruits remained stable over time at 0.9 mean daily reports. The proportion of individuals reporting no fruit or vegetable on a given day has doubled over this 30-year period: from 12% in 1977-78, to 22% in 1994-98 and 25% in 2007-08. Other changes in the “American Plate” over time based on data from national dietary surveys will be discussed.