The food supply in the United States provides an array of nutritious choices to meet the dietary needs of most Americans.

Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats, fish, and poultry are usually easily accessible and affordable through grocery stores and farmers’ markets. Yet, with such an abundance of healthy foods to choose from, are Americans adopting healthy diets?

The Quality of the American Diet

In general, Americans eat too much added sugar, sodium, and saturated fat, and too little fiber and some vitamins and minerals.

Their low fiber intake is partly due to their inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables, and their overconsumption of refined rather than whole grains.

At the same time, while dietary fiber intakes are below recommended levels, added sugars account for an average of 16 percent of Americans’ daily calories. This is largely due to Americans’ love of soft drinks and other sugary beverages, as well as sweets and treats. For most of them, their fat intake is at the higher end of the recommended range, at about 34 percent.

 Their eat too much saturated fat, and many of them exceed the recommended dietary cholesterol intake of less than 300 milligrams per day. With regard to the micronutrients, American men meet their recommendations for most vitamins and minerals but women often fall short of many – including iron, for example.

Americans, in general, eat too much sodium, but not enough vitamin D, potassium, and calcium.  In an attempt to balance their lack of healthy food choices, 50 percent of Americans take at least one dietary supplement per day.

The lack of a healthy diet may also be due to where they eat. Americans spend over 40 percent of their food budget consuming food outside the home.  As mentioned earlier, many of them buy prepared foods from the supermarket or take-out meals from restaurants. If you don’t prepare a meal yourself, it can be more difficult to keep track of how much sugar, sodium, or fat you’re consuming.

Research shows that these prepared foods purchased outside the home tend to be less nutritious than those foods prepared in the home. Eating one or more fast-food meals a week can increase the risk of weight gain, overweight, and obesity. Skipping breakfast may also be a hindrance to the waistline.

Research suggests that children and adolescents who do not eat breakfast are at a higher risk for overweight and obesity.