Changes in Eating Patterns and Diet Quality Among Working-Age Adults

The recession of 2007-09, the deepest of the postwar period, has had large and long-lasting effects. Using data from the 2005-10 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, this study compares a number of measures of food intake and diet quality for the cohort of working-age adults born between 1946 and 1985. During the period, consump-tion of food away from home (FAFH) declined, as measured by total daily calories, share of daily calories, and the number of FAFH meals and snacks. At the same time, diet quality improved slightly, with a lower share of calories coming from fat and saturated fat and with less cholesterol and more fiber consumed. Regression analysis indicates, however, that the decline in FAFH consumption explains less than 20 percent of the improvements in diet quality. Increased consumer preferences for nutritious foods and greater use of nutrition information during food shopping also likely led to improvements in diet quality over this period.