DIFFERENCES IN THE DIETARY QUALITY OF ADULTS LIVING IN SINGLE VERSUS MULTIPERSON HOUSEHOLDS

Because nearly 25% of American adults live in single-person households, it is important to examine the quality of their diets. Using data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 1987-88 Nationwide Food Consumption Survey, we compared the diets of adults living in single-person households to those living in multiperson households by selected sex-age groups. Dietary quality was examined in terms of intake as a percent of the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for 15 essential nutrients, a measure of dietary adequacy, and of intake of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium, a measure of dietary moderation. To facilitate comparisons, indices reflecting dietary adequacy and dietary moderation were constructed. Overall, single women and men reported fewer intakes meeting the RDA and consequently had lower dietary adequacy scores than their counterparts in multiperson households. However, these individuals had significantly better dietary moderation scores than their counterparts in multiperson households. Based on these results, the dietary moderation and dietary adequacy indices may be useful for identification of factors influencing overall diets and for prediction of dietary status of groups of individuals sharing common characteristics. These indices may also be valuable to nutrition educators because they provide measures of dietary compliance with specific aspects of current dietary recommendations.