The Diets of America's Children: Influences of Dining Out,
Household Characteristics, and Nutrition Knowledge Biing-Hwan
Lin, Joanne Guthrie, and James R. Blaylock No. (AER746) 48 pp,
Recent USDA surveys point out several shortcomings in children's
diets. The share of calories from total and saturated fat
averaged 4 and 3 percentage points above the recommendations.
The sodium intake averaged 23 percent above the 2,400 milligrams
recommended by some authorities. These dietary problems start
early in childhood and continue into adulthood. Additionally,
only a small fraction of female adolescents met the recommended
intakes for calcium, fiber, and iron. Compared with home foods,
away-from-home foods were higher in total and saturated fat and
lower in cholesterol, fiber, calcium, iron, and sodium. With
increasing popularity in dining out, efforts to improve
children's diets may need strengthening. Keywords: Children's
diets, food away from home, diet and health knowledge, household
characteristics In this report