Single food focus dietary guidance: lessons learned from an economic analysis of egg consumption

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is a large body of literature evaluating the impact of various nutrients of eggs and their dietary cholesterol content on health conditions. There is also literature on the costs of each condition associated with egg consumption. The goal of the present study is to synthesize what is known about the risks and benefits of eggs and the associated costs from a societal perspective.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A risk apportionment model estimated the increased risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) attributable to egg cholesterol content, the decreased risk for other conditions (age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataract, neural tube defects, and sarcopenia) associated with egg consumption, and a literature search identified the cost of illness of each condition. The base 795 case scenario calculated the costs or savings of each condition attributable to egg cholesterol or nutrient content.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Given the costs associated with CHD and the benefits associated with the other conditions, the most likely scenario associated with eating an egg a day is savings of $2.82 billion annually with uncertainty ranging from a net cost of$756 million to net savings up to $8.50 billion.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study evaluating the economic impact of egg consumption suggests that public health campaigns promoting limiting egg consumption as a means to reduce CHD risk would not be cost-effective from a societal perspective when other benefits are considered. Public health intervention that focuses on a single dietary constituent, and foods that are high in that constituent, may lead to unintended consequences of removing other beneficial constituents and the net effect may not be in its totality a desirable public health outcome. As newer data become available, the model should be updated.</p

Comparisons of Nutrient Intakes and Diet Quality among Water-Based Beverage Consumers

Americans are encouraged to reduce intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB). Zero and low-calorie water-based beverages can provide alternative options to SSB, though limited data are available to understand measures of diet quality across different beverage consumer groups. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to quantify intake of added sugars, total sugars, carbohydrates, and diet quality among consumers of zero-calorie unsweetened beverages (ZCUB) compared to SSB; and, separately, among consumers of low- and no-calorie sweetened beverages (LNCSB) when compared to SSB. Dietary data from the 2009&#8315;2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were analyzed among three life stages by SSB, ZCUB, and LNCSB consumer groups and adjusted for participant characteristics and energy intake. Across all life stages, ZCUB and LNCSB consumers had lower mean intakes of total sugars, added sugars, and carbohydrates when compared to SSB consumers. Diet quality as measured by the Healthy Eating Index 2015 (HEI-2015) was also higher among ZCUB and LNCSB consumers compared to SSB consumers in analyses adjusted for participant characteristics. These results indicate that reduction of SSB from dietary patterns and replacement with ZCUB or LNCSB could help Americans improve overall diet quality

Estimated long-term fish and shellfish intake—National Health and Nutrition Examination

Usual intake estimates describe long-term average intake of food and nutrients and food contaminants. The frequencies of fish and shellfish intake over a 30-day period from National Health and Examination Survey (NHANES 1999(NHANES -2006 were combined with 24-h dietary recall data from NHANES 2003-2004 using a Monte Carlo procedure to estimate the usual intake of fish and shellfish in this study. Usual intakes were estimated for the US population including children 1 to o11 years, males/females 11 to o16 years, 16 to o21 years, and adults 21 þ years. Estimated mean fish intake (consumers only) was highest among children 1 to o2 years and 2 to o3 years, at 0.37 g/kg-day for both age groups, and lowest for females 11 to o16 years, at 0.13 g/kg-day. In all age groups, daily intake estimates were highest for breaded fish, salmon, and mackerel. Among children and teenage consumers, tuna, salmon, and breaded fish were the most frequently consumed fish; shrimp, scallops, and crabs were the most frequently consumed shellfish. The intake estimates from this study better reflect long-term average intake rates and are preferred to assess long-term intake of nutrients and possible exposure to environmental contaminants from fish and shellfish sources than 2-day average estimates