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What is driving increases in dietary quality in the United States?
Smith, T. A., Valizadeh, P., Lin, B-H., & Coats, E. (2019). What is driving increases in dietary quality in the United States?Food Policy, 86, Article 101720. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2019.05.003
Over 1994-2010, adult dietary quality in the United States increased by 10 percent. We find a shift in consumption between at-home and away-from-home food played a relatively minor role as compared to changes in demographics and educational attainment. The two largest contributors we identify include an increased usage of nutritional information and a shift away from relying heavily on price, taste, storability and ease of preparation when shopping for food. Our findings suggest nutrition policy discussions could focus on further shifting attitudes/preferences towards healthier diets while allowing consumers to better extract nutrition information when making food choices.