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 A study in the Midwest analyzed the health quality of foods featured
in a year’s worth of supermarket circulars and found it was lower
even than the average American diet, which is already fairly low
quality.
Grocery stores could serve public health by promoting healthier
choices that are more in line with healthy eating guidelines, the
authors conclude.
Lead author Lisa Jahns said that one Sunday, as she was planning her
weekly shopping trip, she noticed that many of the foods advertised
in the supermarket circular were not what she was looking for.
“I became curious about the kinds of foods that were offered on
special,” Jahns, a researcher with the U.S. Department of
Agriculture Human Nutrition Research Center in Grand Forks, North
Dakota, told Reuters Health in an email.
For the current study, Jahns and her colleagues rated the quality of
the advertised items according to the current Healthy Eating Index
(HEI-2010), which ranks foods based on whether they conform to
USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
The researchers used the HEI-2010 to assign scores to more than
9,000 foods and beverages listed in the weekly circulars. These
scores are based on food types as well as individual nutrient
components, and rate intakes of fruits, vegetables, greens and
beans, whole grains, dairy products, proteins and healthy fats. The
scores also account for refined grains, sodium and empty calories.
In addition, the team calculated HEI scores for the average diet of
the U.S. population based on data from the annual National Health
and Nutrition Examination Survey.
They found that, on average, 178 items were advertised each week
with an average nutrition score of about 43 points out of 100. This
was lower than the average U.S. diet quality score of about 55.
The sale circulars scored lowest for whole grains, greens and beans,
but scores for fruits, vegetables, dairy and healthy fats were also
low, the authors reported in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition
and Dietetics.
Grocers and the U.S. in general did better on total protein, rating
a 100 HEI score, and on the category of Seafood and Plant Proteins,
with scores of 70-75.
Jahns said that while the quality of the overall mix of foods
advertised was lower than the average American diet, it was not as
low as she expected.
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“They did include vegetables and fruits and other foods recommended
by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, just not in recommended
amounts,” Jahns said.
It may be unrealistic to place any portion of a burden of
responsibility in changing the American population eating patterns
to supermarkets, at a time when they struggle to make a small margin
of profit, said Miriam Pappo, director of clinical nutrition for
Montefiore Health System in New York.
Pappo, who was not involved in the study, thought some findings were
interesting. For example, the researchers found that empty calories
were higher in the summer than in other seasons.
“(That’s) likely due to ice creams and other treats offered or
desired in the summer,” she said. “This is contrary to what we know:
eating desserts is highest in the winter holiday months.”
Total Fruit score was also unexpectedly higher in winter than in
other seasons, Pappo said. “Most people believe they eat more summer
fruit. Perhaps they just enjoy it more,” she said.
Pappo advised consumers who want to eat healthy and maintain a
budget that there are sales on fresh or frozen fruits and
vegetables, and whole grain breads or products, and even olive oils,
despite the study findings.
Fruits and vegetables that are frozen plain without extra sauce are
often very high in nutritional content, sometimes higher than fresh,
Pappo added.
“Saving on non-food items, often on sale or with coupons, may help
defray, off-set, or reduce the cost of healthy food items in the
total grocery bill for a household” she said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1Pdep7x Journal of the Academy of Nutrition
and Dietetics, online October 22, 2015.
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