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 fr om the U.S. Department of Agriculture's 1987-88 Nationwide Food Consum ption Survey, we compared the diets of adults living in single-person households to those living in multiperson households by selected sex-a ge groups. Dietary quality was examined in terms of intake as a percen t of the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for 15 essential nutrient s, a measure of dietary adequacy, and of intake of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium, a measure of dietary moderation. To facilita te comparisons, indices reflecting dietary adequacy and dietary modera tion were constructed. Overall, single women and men reported fewer in takes meeting the RDA and consequently had lower dietary adequacy scor es than their counterparts in multiperson households. However, these i ndividuals had significantly better dietary moderation scores than the ir counterparts in multiperson households. Based on these results, the dietary moderation and dietary adequacy indices may be useful for ide ntification of factors influencing overall diets and for prediction of dietary status of groups of individuals sharing common characteristic s. These indices may also be valuable to nutrition educators because t hey provide measures of dietary compliance with specific aspects of cu rrent dietary recommendations.