Study: American Diet Shows Modest Improvement (Especially among Latinos)

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U.S. dietary quality has improved steadily over the past decade, but not among certain income and racial/ethnic groups, according to a new study.

That’s usually bad news for Latinos.

But the study, led by Harvard School of Public Health, indicated that Mexican Americans actually had the best dietary quality due to dietary traditions and culture, Medical News Today reports.

African Americans and those with lower income and less education had the worst dietary quality.

Income-related differences in diet quality are likely associated with price (healthy foods generally cost more) and access (low-income people may have limited access to stores that sell healthy foods), according to the Harvard Gazette.

“The overall improvement in diet quality is encouraging, but the widening gap related to income and education presents a serious challenge to our society as a whole,” Walter Willett, senior author of the study of Harvard School of Public Health, told the Harvard Gazette.

Overall, U.S. dietary quality improved due to reduced trans fat consumption, reduced sugary drink intake, and more whole fruit, whole grains, legumes and nuts.

Consumption of vegetables, red and processed meat and alcohol remained steady.

However, salt intake increased.

Read more about the study here.