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ARS Home » Plains Area » Grand Forks, North Dakota » Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center » Healthy Body Weight Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #280489
Title: Two-thirds of foods consumed on myplate contain SoFAS

Author
item KRANZ, SIBYLLE - Purdue University
item Jahns, Lisa

Submitted to: Annual Scientific Meeting NAASO, The Obesity Society
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/16/2012
Publication Date: 9/20/2012
Citation: Kranz, S., Jahns, L.A. 2012. Two-thirds of foods consumed on myplate contain SoFAS. Annual Scientific Meeting NAASO, The Obesity Society. Abstract presentation at: The Obesity Society Annual Meeting at ObesityWeek 2012; San Antonio TX. www.obesityweek.com.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Background: Public health efforts focus upon improving diet quality to prevent chronic disease. MyPlate, which represents the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, encourages limiting the consumption of solid fats (SoF) and added sugars (AS). We examined nationally representative consumption data to examine the proportion of foods consumed from each MyPlate food group that contain solid fats, added sugars, or both (SoFAS). Methods: Consumption data from individuals (n = 8,528) over the age of 2 years of the NHANES 2007-2008 was analyzed to determine if the food codes consumed included (=1) or did not include (=0) SoFAS. The weighted proportion of the consumption of these foods was calculated and reported. Results: 61% of the food items consumed contained SoFAS, 43% of those had SoF, 38% had AS, 21% had both. Fruits were the least likely food group to contain SoFAS (93%), followed by the vegetable group (38% had no SoFAS). In contrast, 89% of grains contained either or both SoFAS. Surprisingly, 31% of the protein foods contained AS, which, combined with the foods having SoF meant that 77% of the protein foods had either or both SoFAS. Only 7% of the dairy contained no SoFAS (93% contained SoF and 28% AS). Conclusions: The high proportion of the foods with SoFAS within the vegetable, grains, protein and dairy MyPlate categories is likely promoting consumption of solid fats and added sugars. The ubiquity of foods containing SoFAS across food groups likely increases the difficulty of choosing healthy foods. More research is needed to understand how to help people make better food choices in the present high SoFAS food environment.