Poor Nutritional Habits: A Modifiable Predecessor of Chronic Illness? A North Carolina Family Medicine Research Network (NC-FM-RN) Study

Abstract

Purpose: To examine associations between personal nutritional patterns and various indicators of health, disease risk, and chronic illness in a diverse, representative sample of adult patients from primary care settings.Methods: As part of a survey of adult patients conducted in the waiting rooms of 4 primary care practices in North Carolina (recruitment rate 74.8%), a 7-item nutrition screen was administered to 1788 study participants. Other questionnaire items addressed disease and functional status, race/ethnicity, health habits, and demographic factors.Results: Respondents included 292 African Americans (17.3%), 1004 non-Hispanic whites (59.4%), 255 Hispanics (15.1%), and 126 American Indians (7.4%); mean age 47.5 years. Thirty percent reported eating 3 or more fast food meals weekly, 29% drank 3 or more high-sugar beverages weekly, 22% ate 3 or more high-fat snacks weekly, 36% ate 3 or more desserts weekly, 11% reported eating "a lot" of margarine, butter, or meat fat; 62% ate 2 or fewer fruits or vegetables daily; and 42% reported consuming protein less than 3 times a week. Scores on a summary measure were worse for prediabetics than for diabetics, for young adults compared with older persons, and for persons reporting good/excellent health versus fair/poor health. Overweight and obesity are major causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States.

Dietary screening tool identifies nutritional risk in older adults

“…Older adults are vulnerable to nutritional risk; therefore, effective and evidence-based screening strategies are essential to help combat age-related chronic disease and reverse declines in the quality of life associated with nutritional risk. The clinical setting provides an ideal environment for dietary screening of older adults (42). This study shows that the DST is a practical and effective tool for dietary screening of older adults in a clinical setting.…”

Preferences for Genetic and Behavioral Health Information: The Impact of Risk Factors and Disease Attributions

“…Dietary risk was computed using a validated 7-item nutrition screener designed for primary care settings [41] (range = 0-14). Items include How many times in a typical week do you eat fast food meals or snacks?…”

Improving Multiple Health Risk Behaviors in Primary Care: Lessons from the Prescription for Health COmmon Measures, Better Outcomes (COMBO) Study

“…Imputation for up to 2 of the 7 missing dietary questions was implemented, substituting the mean of the completed responses for that indi- vidual. 25 A reduction in the summed diet score was considered an improvement.…”

“…25 Ordinal values were assigned to each response range. Summing the values provided a score of 0 to 14, where 14 represented the least healthy diet habits.…”