The U.S. Department of Agriculture has published a new report on Americans' food consumption habits that highlights some of the ways people are failing to meet federal dietary guidelines and how that affect the country's health.
The "U.S. Food Commodity Consumption Broken Down by Demographics, 1994-2008" report includes estimates of the amounts of over 200 food and beverage commodities available for consumption, as well as year-to-year changes in commodity consumption. Data came from six national food intake surveys conducted between 1994 and 2008.
The USDA highlighted the findings for the following four product groups, based on their relevance to the government's current priority recommendations for improving Americans' diet and health, and for the significant consumption trends they reveal.
1. Fruits. Annual, per capita fruit consumption fell between 2005 and 2008. The decline is due in large part to the decline of orange consumption and orange juice consumption.
2. Vegetables. Between the 1994-98 intake survey and the 2007-08 survey, total vegetable consumption declined from 172.8 to 161.8 pounds per person per year. This decline spanned all ages, income groups, races and ethnicities.
3. Dairy. Between the 1994-98 intake survey and the 2007-08 survey, total dairy consumption declined from 220.5 to 211.4 pounds per person per year. The decline was chiefly a result of people consuming less fluid milk, despite consuming more cheese, yogurt, and other dairy products (such as cream cheese and sour cream) during the same time.
4. Meat. Chicken consumption rose among all races and ethnicities, although at different rates. Meanwhile, beef and pork consumption fell slightly from 1994 to 2008. The disparities by race and ethnicity apparently widened for beef consumption due to declining consumption among non-Hispanic black people and individuals of "other" races and ethnicities.
To access the full report, click here.
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