Annals of Internal Medicine presented a study that explains how Americans’ eating habits changed from 1999 to 2020. According to the study, the percentage of Americans who have a “poor diet quality” has decreased significantly, falling from almost 49% to 37%, a 11.4 percent drop.

Progress and Persisting Challenges

Improving American diets has been a goal for the last 20 years, but not everyone has benefited from these efforts. This is something that Dariush Mozaffarian, who is both an author of the study and the head of Tufts University’s Food is Medicine Institute, stresses in a Tufts Now piece. According to him, “Although we’ve witnessed some modest improvements in American diets over the past two decades, these enhancements have not reached everyone, and many Americans are still consuming less-than-optimal diets.”

The Study’s Findings

Using the American Heart Association’s (AHA) 2020 continuous diet score as a metric, the study examined the eating habits of 51,703 adults. For this score, it’s important to eat more whole grains, fruits, vegetables, seafood, nuts, seeds, and legumes while reducing your consumption of sugary drinks, processed meat, saturated fat, and sodium. A poor diet was determined in the study as one that did not comply to the AHA score by more than 40%.

Addressing Barriers

In order to achieve nutritional and health justice, Mozaffarian stresses the significance of removing the obstacles that keep many Americans from having access to and eating healthy food. “We need to address the systemic barriers that prevent many Americans from accessing and consuming nutritious food,” according to him. “This includes improving access to healthy food options in low-income communities, increasing funding for nutrition education and outreach programs, and promoting policies that support healthy eating habits.”

Conclusion

While the American diet has improved somewhat over the past 20 years, the study shows that a lot more effort is needed to make sure that everyone in the country can get their hands on healthy food and develop good eating habits. We may strive for nutritional and health fairness by removing the structural obstacles that keep many Americans from having access to and eating healthy food.

Additional Resources

• Food is Medicine Institute: A nonprofit with the mission of increasing awareness about the importance of eating healthily and removing the structural obstacles that keep many Americans from doing so.
• American Heart Association: A front-runner in the fight for better heart health and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease through education and advocacy for healthier lifestyle choices.
• Tufts University: A leading research university with a strong focus on nutrition and public health.

References

1. The Hill: “Americans with poor diet fall from 49 percent to 37 percent: Study”
2. Tufts Now: “Study reveals decrease in poor diet quality among Americans”
3. Annals of Internal Medicine: “Decreasing Trends in ‘Poor Diet Quality’ Among Americans: A New Study Reveals Progress and Persisting Challenges”