Food Intake Patterns of Self-identified Vegetarians Among the U.S. Population, 2007-2010☆

Abstract Vegetarians’ food intake patterns vary in the extent that they exclude all or some animal products (e.g., meat, poultry, fish/ seafood, eggs, and dairy). We examined the differences of consumption of selected USDA Food Patterns food groups, subgroups, and food components, total calorie intake,and the number of food items between self-identified vegetarians and non-vegetarians in the U.S. population aged 1 year and older. Weighted reliable food consumption data from day 1 of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2007-2010 and the USDA Food Patterns Equivalents Database, 2007-2010 were analyzed in the U.S. population (n=15,453) using SAS 9.3. Only 3% of the self-identified vegetarians (total 2.1%; n=323) did not consume any animal products. Compared to non-vegetarians, vegetarians consumed significantly fewer calories (1862 kcal vs. 2058 kcal; p