Are Americans Finally Eating Better?

A national survey reported some improvements in Americans' dietary habits, but findings also suggest disparities based on race, education and income level.

The study, which was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), analyzed a series of nationally represented surveys conducted between 1999 and 2012. The researchers asked 33,932 American adults aged 20 years and older what they ate within the 24-hour period.  

Researchers found that, over the time span, dietary habits have improved in some parts of the U.S. There was an increased consumption of whole grains, nuts or seeds, increase in fish and shellfish and decreased consumption of sugar or sweetened beverages.

The percentage of American adults who have poor diets declined from 56 percent to 46 percent. The number of people who have good dietary habits also increased but remained low, from 0.7 percent to 1.5 percent.

There were no improvements, however, for many types of food, particularly those that are most crucial to health, according to the study.

Over the years, no significant change was observed in the total number of fruits and vegetables the subjects ate, and they did not eat less meat, processed meat and sodium.

"Americans are slowly getting the message about the crucial role of diet and health," Dariush Mozaffarian of the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and author of the study said in a statement published on Time.com.

"But this message is reaching people unequally and slowly," he added.

The researchers also found disparities in diet quality based on race or ethnicity, education and income level.

White Americans showed the most improvement in their diets, while minority groups and lower-income groups improved less.

Some racial groups increased their consumption of unhealthy foods. For instance, black Americans ate more white potatoes and Mexican-Americans ate more refined grains.

According to Mozaffarian, the reason could be that minority groups and lower-income groups are often the targets of aggressive marketing campaigns for fast foods and highly-processed foods.

"Specific foods were Achilles' heels for different racial groups," he said.

Moreover, improvements in diet were dependent on the person's income and educational level.

According to Mozaffarian, the results of the study emphasizes the need to address certain food issues. "We have to move beyond dietary guidelines and education and food labeling and really think about strong government policies to make the food system healthier for everybody," he said.