Recent population adherence to and knowledge of United States federal nutrition guides, 1992-2013: a systematic review

Abstract

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans dictates the federal nutrition programs, policies, and recommendations of the United States. Corresponding nutrition guides have been established to help educate the public about the dietary intake patterns recommended in these guidelines as well as to ameliorate the US obesity epidemic and its health-related outcomes. The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize population adherence to and knowledge of these guiding US nutrition guides issued since 1992, including the Food Guide Pyramid, MyPyramid, and MyPlate. Of the 31 studies included in the review, 22 examined adherence, 6 examined knowledge, and 3 examined both adherence and knowledge. Across studies, adherence to nutrition guides was low, with participants consuming inadequate levels of fruit, vegetables, and dairy in particular. Knowledge of nutrition guides increased over time since publication and decreased with age of the participants. An association between knowledge of and adherence to nutrition guides was not found. Disparities in knowledge and adherence existed across demographic groups. Based on these findings, it is suggested that federal dietary guidance can be strengthened by increasing dissemination of nutrition guides to the public and tailoring promotional activities to specific demographic and socioeconomic groups.

Two‐year follow‐up of a randomised controlled trial to assess the sustainability of a school intervention to improve the implementation of a school‐based nutrition policy

“…3 Children in high income countries, such as the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK) and Australia, have diets low in fruit and vegetables and high in foods with low-nutritional value. [4][5][6][7] As childhood dietary behaviours track into adulthood, 8 the current poor dietary habits of children are likely to contribute to the chronic disease burden of disease in the future in the absence of intervention.…”

Twenty-four-year trends and determinants of change in compliance with Swiss dietary guidelines

“…Many countries have issued national dietary guidelines [3][4][5]. Compliance with dietary recommendations is an important factor for health maintenance and disease prevention [6], but several studies have shown that compliance with national dietary guidelines is low [7,8]. Still, of the few studies that assessed trends in compliance with dietary guidelines [9][10][11][12], some focused on a single guideline [11] or on a specific group of the population [12].…”

Household, psychosocial, and individual-level factors associated with fruit, vegetable, and fiber intake among low-income urban African American youth

“…Dietary fiber from whole grains, fruits, and vegetables is often associated with a higher diet quality and variety [6, 7] and is recommended by dietary guidelines for its health promotion characteristics [8]. Most youth in the U.S. do not achieve the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables.…”