Oral

Supporters of preventive health care assert that the presence of health promoting behaviors, such as a healthy diet and exercise, will help people avoid chronic disease and lead healthy productive lives. This message is widespread, yet statistics show that large percentages of the United States population are not adopting these healthier practices and in particular maintain poor diets. The purpose of this session is to explore what Americans are eating. Identifying dietary consumption patterns from a variety of perspectives is important to gain a better understanding of the link between what we are eating and chronic disease risk. Exploring these dietary patterns is also a way to respond to the need for chronic disease prevention strategies across a variety of contexts, including schools and communities, and is relevant to a wide range of practitioners, researchers and policy makers. Presentations will center around data from What We Eat in America (WWEIA), which is the dietary intake component of the NHANES, providing the most comprehensive data on food and nutrient intakes of the American population. The data are collected using the USDA Automated Multiple-Pass Method (AMPM), which is considered the gold standard in 24-hour dietary data recall. The data presented will be useful to nutritionists, health behaviorists, physicians, nutritional epidemiologists, educators, researchers and other health professionals and interested in nutrition and policy issues. This session will give a snapshot of American food consumption patterns and will explore such topics as meal patterns, foods, and nutrients.

Session Objectives: 1. Describe the method used for collecting national dietary data. 2. Describe aspects of today’s American diet in relation to chronic disease and prevention strategies. 3. Identify differences in diet across gender, age, and race/ethnicity.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH)