Diet Quality and Food Intakes samong US Adults by Level of Animal Protein Intake, What We Eat in America, NHANES 2015–2018
M. Katherine Hoy, Theophile Murayi, Alanna Moshfegh
Abstract
Background: Dietary recommendations encourage consuming protein from a variety of plant and animal sources. Evaluating the diet of US adults by level of animal protein (AP) intake can inform dietary assessment and nutrition education. Objectives: The objective of this cross-sectional study was to estimate percentage of total protein intake from animal sources by US adults to compare diet quality, and intake from USDA Food Patterns (FP) groups by quintiles of AP. Methods: <0.001. Results: <0.001) compared with Q1-Q4 (range: 48.0-50.3), which did not differ significantly from each other. Contributions of plant FP components to total protein intake of Q1 to Q5, respectively, were 15% to 1% from nuts/seeds, legumes, and soy products combined; 35 to 10% from grains. The contribution of animal FP components were 19-66% from meat/poultry/seafood, 14-19% dairy, and 3-5% eggs. Conclusions: The intake of foods considered to be good sources of plant protein was low. The overall diet quality of all adults was suboptimal regardless of plant protein intake.