Location: Food Surveys Research Group
Project Number: 8040-10700-001-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: Dec 20, 2023
End Date: Dec 19, 2028
Objective:
Objective 1. Evaluate potential benefits of new technologies and incorporate them into national dietary intake assessment. [NP107, C2, PS2B, PS2C]
Sub-objective 1.A.
Evaluate new dietary assessment technologies for national dietary surveillance.
Sub-objective 1.B.
Evaluate the AMPM questions and response options to identify improvements to make the new tool an effective dietary collection instrument.
Sub-objective 1.C.
Design and develop a new collection instrument for national dietary surveillance that meets the detailed evaluation framework of requirements, will allow for streamlined online computation and will facilitate the timely release of national dietary data.
Objective 2. Investigate the relationship between dietary intakes, diet quality, and the environmental impact (such as carbon dioxide produced, water/cropland use) of the foods and beverages consumed. [NP107, C2, PS2B]
Sub-objective 2.A.
Develop a standardized publicly available resource and methodology for converting FNDDS foods to commodity groups.
Sub-objective 2.B.
Evaluate associations of plant- and animal-based protein with diet-based and environmental impact indices among the U.S. population.
Approach:
National dietary intake data are fundamental to the health assessment of Americans. Innovations are needed for improved data collection and faster dissemination of national dietary data. Two USDA research products - the Automated Multiple-Pass Method instrument and its supporting Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies - have collected dietary intake data in the nation’s health survey, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) since 2000. With the NHANES redesign to be launched in 2025, timing is optimal for developing an improved approach to dietary assessment. This project will evaluate the benefits of the new methods and technologies and incorporate them in developing improved dietary assessment instruments for national surveillance. A key feature will be calculating the nutrient profile of reported foods at the time of collection. This research will also investigate and develop a resource to further characterize foods reported in the dietary intake component of NHANES, What We Eat in America (WWEIA), on a commodity basis.
A new dietary data collection instrument will provide improved and efficient data for NHANES and public research. Aligning the instrument with Federal policy needs, data will inform Federal food and nutrition programs, Federal dietary guidance, and public health. The climate environment may affect the food supply, and the effects could be studied using national dietary intake data if the foods are characterized at the commodity level and linked to the farming environment. The knowledge will ultimately facilitate the alignment of environmental impact scores to reported foods and beverages. This research will provide a resource for monitoring the U.S. diet as assessed in national dietary surveillance based on characterizing reported foods and beverages to environmental impact factors. This resource will allow for investigating the relationship between dietary intakes, diet quality, and the environmental impact of the foods and beverages consumed and can inform policy relating to food and agricultural production practices that contribute to public health.
