What changes to the average American diet are necessary for the population to meet the Dietary Guidelines?

Answer 1

The Dietary Guidelines committee compared average U.S. nutrient intakes with DRI recommendations and identified two categories of nutrients that pose a public health risk due to their under- or overconsumption, indicating a need for change in U.S. eating habits. Important needed nutrients are undersupplied by the current U.S. diet (vitamins A, D, E, and C, folate, calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, and fiber) while other, less healthful nutrients are oversupplied (sodium and saturated fat). The U.S. diet is too high in calories and red and processed meat, refined grains, added sugars, sodium, and saturated fat. Improvements are needed in the average U.S. diet—more whole grains, far fewer refined grains, more vegetables and fruit, and more milk—to meet intake goals.