What Is America Eating? Proceedings of a Symposium (1986) / Chapter Skim
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Variety in Foods
Variety in Foods
Pages 126-140
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From page 126... ...
The notion that a variety of food choices enhances the likelihood of selecting a nutritionally adequate diet is not limited to food guidance in the United States. Canada's Food Guide recommends variety in food choices and eating patterns as a basic nutrition principle (Department of National Health and Welfare, 19791.
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From page 127... ...
In a third interpretation of variety, Canada's Food Guide recommends varying food preparation methods for example, using raw, cooked, canned, and frozen fruits and vegetables (Department of National Health and Welfare, 19821. It suggests that even more variety may be achieved by altering the size of meals and the time and location in which meals are eaten.
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From page 128... ...
examined the diets of Puerto Rican-American teenagers by measuring food diversity and nutritional adequacy. Diversity was defined as the average number of different food items eaten by a respondent per day.
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From page 129... ...
METHODS Studly Population Data for this study were obtained from the basic survey portion of USDA's 1977-1978 Nationwide Food Consumption Survey (NFCS)
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From page 130... ...
Overcounting, however, was determined to have a negligible effect on results, and adjustment for undercounting could not be made because TABLE ~ 1977-1978 Nationwide Food Consumption Survey Examples of Food Codesa Food Code Description Milk, cow's, fluid, whole Milk, not furler specified Milk, cow's, fluid, low fat (2%) Milk, chocolate .
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From page 131... ...
counting ingredients could invalidate a mixture as a unique food item if the ingredients were also reported elsewhere as individual food items. Because a simple measure of variety was desired for this study and because correction for all overcounting and undercounting was impossible, the study proceeded with the number of unique food codes on each person's record as the measure of vanety; this measure was labeled unique foods.
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From page 132... ...
However, there are some sex and age differences in the mean values for total foods repotted. Males aged 23 years and older had the highest mean values females aged 1 ~ to 99 very had the lowest mean value.
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From page 133... ...
lThe mean total foods score was about 43, most persons reporting between 20 and 60 total food items. Relationship Between Variety and Various Quality Measures Table 4 presents the bivariate relationships between unique foods and each of the 11 NARs.
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From page 135... ...
in which a different subset of Me NFCS population was used showed that as unique foods increased, the percentage of reported meats and meat alternatives decreased slightly, whereas reported fruits and vegetables increased. TABLE 6 Mean Percentage of Caloric Intake Obtained from Protein, Fat, and Carbohydrate by Persons Who Reported Consuming Various Numbers of Unique Foods in 3 Days Calonc Intake .
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From page 136... ...
This interrelationship prompted the reexamination of the relationship between unique foods and MAR 1 1 this time controlling for total foods reported. The relationship was examined by a correlation-regression analysis, using MARll as the dependent variable and unique foods, total foods, and the interaction of unique and total foods as independent variables.
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From page 137... ...
Although these are not actual sample means, these data fit the model reasonably well. Regardless of the total number of foods reported, MAR11 scores increased win increasing variety, but the amount of change associated with an increase in unique foods was greater when total foods were low Man when total foods were high.
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From page 138... ...
A variety measure was selected to account for as much total variation in food choice as possible- including variation among and within major food groups and variation from altered cooking methods. Use of this simplified measure to examine bivariate relationships initially suggested that increased variety was associated with improved nutritional adequacy.
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From page 139... ...
Such research will contribute significantly to dietary guidance. ACKNOWLEDGMENT This research was partially supported by Contract 58-3198-2-57 from Be Human Nutrition Information Service, Consumer Nu~ihon Center, U.S.
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From page 140... ...
1980. Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
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