Chicago - The USDA’s new nationwide survey, the “Healthy Eating Index: 1994-96,” offers important insights into the country's current nutritional status and is a valuable blueprint for future improvements in the American diet, according to the American Dietetic Association.
The findings in the 'Healthy Eating Index' survey represent a classic case of good news-bad news,” says Ann M. Coulston, president of the Chicago-based ADA, the world's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals.
“Overall, Americans appear to be making slight but noticeable improvement in their food choices. But in terms of the proper balance of specific foods, there is room for change.”
The USDA calls the Index a “report card” on American's eating habits, providing a picture of the country's overall diet quality compared with such federal nutrition recommendations as the “Food Guide Pyramid” and “Dietary Guidelines for Americans.”
The index measures 10 components of an individual's diet, including serving size, variety of foods eaten and consumption of saturated fat, expressing the results on a scale between zero and 100. While the average American's score of 64 falls in the “needs improvement” range, it is up from the 1995 national average score of 62.
“That's encouraging,” says Coulston, a registered dietitian and senior nutrition researcher at Stanford University. “Small, reasonable changes in a person's overall eating pattern and physical activity, made over time, are the best way to incorporate healthful food choices into your individual diet, preferences and lifestyle. Small steps work better than giant leaps.”
To take the proper-sized steps toward bettering your own nutrition report card, Coulston suggests following these ADA guidelines:
-- Eat a variety of nutrient-rich foods. "We need more than 40 nutrients for good health and no single food supplies them all. Use the 'Food Guide Pyramid' and the nutrition facts panel on food labels as a guide."
-- Everything in moderation. "If a favorite food is high in fat, salt or sugar, the key is moderating how much and how often these foods are eaten."
-- Make changes gradually. "Changing too much too fast can get in the way of success. Small changes can lead to positive, lifelong habits."
-- All foods can fit into a healthful eating pattern. "Don't feel guilty about enjoying an occasional treat. One food, or one meal, will not make or break a healthful diet."
The “Healthy Eating Index” survey also found that the average person's cholesterol intake is within the recommended standards and that people are consuming a greater variety of foods, both of which Coulston calls “significant movement in the right direction.”
On the other hand, 71% of Americans consumed a diet in 1996 that needed overall improvement, according to the USDA survey. Only 17% ate the recommended amounts of fruit each day, and just 25% consumed the recommended daily levels of dairy products. As children get older, their diet -- especially their consumption of fruit and dairy products -- declines.
Coulston also points to recent USDA research showing that nutrition information plays a large role in determining the quality of an individual's diet. (Economic Research Service Report: USDA's Healthy Eating Index and Nutrition Information, April 1998)
“That's a concern,” Coulston says. “Parents appear to be doing a good job with young children in helping them strike the proper balance among grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy products and meat. But for some reason those lessons aren't sticking as children move into young adulthood.
“This tells me we have to continue emphasizing the lifelong benefits of a varied eating plan to Americans of all ages, and that the role of nutrition education cannot be overemphasized.
“Yet recent congressional action failed to provide adequate funding for the Nutrition Education and Training Program, a state grant program that works to educate students on becoming informed consumers, with the knowledge, skills and attitudes to choose a diet that can positively affect their productivity as students and citizens and their long-term health outcomes.”
The ADA has strongly urged Congress to fully fund the two-decades-old federal program that brings nutrition education into the classroom and school cafeteria and provides training at local levels on planning and preparing healthy meals.
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