NUTRITION INFORMATION THE KEY TO BETTER DIET, BETTER HEALTH Release No. 0209.98 Tom McDonald (ERS) (202) 694-5129 thomasm@econ.ag.gov John Webster (CNPP)(202) 418-2312 john.webster@usda.gov NUTRITION INFORMATION THE KEY TO BETTER DIET, BETTER HEALTH WASHINGTON, May 15, 1998--Women generally have more healthful diets than men. Older people generally have more healthful diets than younger people. Those with more schooling generally have more healthful diets than those with less schooling. A new report, USDA's Healthy Eating Index and Nutrition Information, published by USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) in collaboration with the USDA Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP), finds that one reason for these dietary differences is that people with more healthful diets have a greater store of nutrition information and are more aware of the links between poor diet and certain diseases. "The report demonstrates a strong case that information and knowledge are the keys that open the door to better diets and in turn better health, longer lives, and children with improved cognitive and learning abilities," said Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics Miley Gonzalez. "The strong link between nutrition information and diet quality suggests an important sustained role for nutrition education efforts so Americans will realize the benefits of a more healthful diet," said Under Secretary for Food Nutrition and Consumer Services Shirley Watkins. The Healthy Eating Index is a measure of overall dietary quality developed by USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion in 1995. The Index provides a single summary measure of how well one's diet conforms to USDA's nutrition recommendations contained in its Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Food Guide Pyramid. The Index factors in such dietary practices as consumption of total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium, and the variety of foods in the diet. The report documents the influence on diet of socioeconomic characteristics, nutrition knowledge, and awareness of diet-disease relationships. For two individuals similar in every respect, the one scoring one unit higher on a nutrition knowledge scale also scored four to five points higher on the Healthy Eating Index scale. The accompanying table shows the average scores by demographic group on three measures: the Healthy Eating Index, one's knowledge of nutrition content, and one's awareness of the link between diet and health. Individuals with greater income or education tend to acquire more nutrition information and knowledge which, in turn, improves the quality of their diets. Informational differences also explain the effects of gender, race, ethnicity, and income on diet quality. If everything else is held equal, men and women tend to have the same diet quality. However, on average, women tend to have a higher stock of nutrition information than men, and this shows up in their Healthy Eating Index scores--about 5 points higher for women than for men. Data for the report were obtained by applying the Healthy Eating Index to the nationally representative observations recorded in the USDA 1989-90 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals, and the companion Diet and Health Knowledge Survey. The Healthy Eating Index (CNPP-1), published October 1995, may be downloaded from the CNPP website at http://www.usda.gov/fcs/cnpp.htm Nutrition information and the Healthy Eating Index across selected sociodemographic groups Higher scores in one index generally correspond with higher scores in the other indexes. Group Nutrient content Diet-health Healthy Eating knowledge awareness Index (Higher numbers are more healthful) Less than 30 years old 15.09 4.84 59.28 31-49 years old 15.67 5.64 61.51 50-69 years old 15.68 5.44 67.17 Over 69 years old 14.74 4.84 69.33 Male 14.75 4.95 60.59 Female 15.56 5.39 64.79 White 15.74 5.49 64.78 Black 13.76 4.41 59.66 Other 14.12 4.47 63.56 Non-Hispanic 15.55 5.37 64.04 Hispanic 13.56 4.60 64.11 Less than $3,801 per capita 14.28 4.72 59.52 $3,801-5,400 per capita 14.69 4.74 63.47 $5,401-10,200 per capita 15.30 5.18 64.52 $10,201 or above per capita 16.57 6.06 66.83 Did not graduate from high school 14.10 4.53 62.57 High school graduate 15.56 5.20 62.97 Schooling beyond high school 16.56 6.21 66.67 Vegetarian 15.61 5.18 67.21 Nonvegetarian 15.41 5.32 63.95 Smoker 15.04 4.93 58.63 Nonsmoker 15.55 5.45 65.98 Source: USDA's Healthy Eating Index and Nutrition Information, TB-1866, April 1998, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service and the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. # NOTE: USDA news releases and media advisories are available on the Internet. Access the USDA Home Page on the World Wide Web at http://www.usda.gov