Food choices and the cancer guidelines.

Twenty-four hour dietary recall data from 11,658 adult respondents in the second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES II) (1976-80) were used to examine the American diet in relation to certain of the cancer dietary guidelines from the National Academy of Sciences and the American Cancer Society. The per cent who reported consuming any food in those food groups considered protective was small: cruciferous vegetables (18 per cent); fruits and vegetables high in vitamin A (21 per cent); high fiber breads and cereals (16 per cent). The per cent consuming foods potentially increasing cancer risk was high: red meat (55 per cent); bacon and lunch meats (43 per cent). Proportions of persons eating fruits and vegetables increased with income. Diets were closer to the guidelines for females than males, for Blacks than Whites, and for older than younger Americans.