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What Do People Eat When They Don't Eat Meat? An Evaluation of Dietary Quality Using the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2007–2012
Author(s) -
Conrad Zach,
Karlsen Micaela,
Chui Kenneth,
Jahns Lisa
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.31.1_supplement.648.10
Subject(s) - national health and nutrition examination survey , calorie , refined grains , medicine , food science , environmental health , healthy eating , consumption (sociology) , red meat , whole grains , biology , physical activity , population , social science , sociology , physical medicine and rehabilitation , endocrinology
Objective To compare diet quality scores between adult non‐meat eaters and meat eaters, and to compare the consumption of diet components across quintiles of diet quality. Design Cross‐sectional analysis. Healthy Eating Index‐2010 (HEI‐2010) and Alternative Healthy Eating Index‐2010 (AHEI‐2010) were used to assess mean diet quality. Differences in consumption of diet components between quintiles of diet quality were tested using post hoc Wald tests. Setting The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2007–2012. Subjects The sample consisted of 16,688 respondents ≥20 y, including 281 individuals that reported not consuming meat, fowl, or seafood on two non‐consecutive days of dietary recall. Dietary data were obtained from one dietary recall per individual. Results Non‐meat eaters had substantially greater HEI‐2010 and AHEI‐2010 scores compared to meat eaters ( P <0.05). Among non‐meat eaters, mean consumption across HEI‐2010 quintiles demonstrated different ( P <0.05) amounts of empty calories, whole fruit, and plant proteins. Mean consumption across AHEI‐2010 quintiles demonstrated different ( P <0.05) amounts of nuts and legumes, vegetables, and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Conclusions Public health messages targeted at vegetarians and others who may choose to eat meat‐free on certain days should emphasize decreased consumption of empty calories, and increased consumption of whole grains, plant proteins, nuts and legumes, and vegetables as a way to improve overall dietary quality. Support or Funding Information USDA 3062‐51000–51‐00D