Dietary intake of Americans reporting adherence to a low cholesterol diet (NHANES II)

We studied the dietary intake of persons age 18 and over participating in the 1976-80 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES II). We compared the diets of those on a 'low cholesterol' diet (dieters, n = 296) with the diets of individuals not following a special diet (non-dieters, n = 10,052). Dietary intakes were assessed by 24-hour recall and food frequency reports and were adjusted for differences in age, sex, race, education, smoking, and socioeconomic status by multivariate statistical techniques. Dieters consumed 16 percent (99% confidence interval- -24, -9) fewer calories than non-dieters, and had decreased intake of saturated fat by 25 percent (-34, -15) and cholesterol by 21 percent (-32, -10). However, their intake of vitamin A, thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, calcium, and iron were not significantly different from non-dieters and their ascorbic acid intake was 18 percent (1, 36) higher. The nutrient density (nutrient/1000 kcal) among dieters was increased over non-dieters by 35 percent (-3, 72) for vitamin A, 35 percent (1, 70) for thiamine, 30 percent (-4, 65) for riboflavin, 27 percent (9,44) for niacin, 60 percent (40, 80) for vitamin C, 14 percent for calcium (-5, 32), and 15 percent for iron (6, 25). Compared with non-dieters, dieters consumed 27 percent (9, 45) more poultry and 39 percent (12, 66) more fish, but consumed 30 percent (-44, -16) less eggs and 15 percent (-24, -6) less meat.