On the Path to Changing Consumer Dietary Behavior: Measuring Myplate Challenges and Opportunities

Background:  The challenge now facing public health professionals, educators, and influencers in all sectors united in the goal to change the food environment, where consumers need to make food decisions,  is to understand the ways in which consumers are responding (or not) to national dietary  recommendations.

Program background:  The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion and its National Strategic Partners are measuring the impact of the MyPlate initiative over time according to a consumer behavior continuum, starting with implementation mechanisms. The process moves from measuring baseline consumer markers, such as awareness and receptiveness, to measures of consumer intent, and ultimately survey data on food patterns. The NPD Group maintains the National Eating Trends dataset which measures and reports on eating trends of Americans.  The NET survey has been deployed for more than 30 years using the same diary methodology.  This dataset provides unique insights into the development of trends in eating behaviors.  For this presentation, we will utilize NET to show historically how eating behaviors have changed and more recently the ways in which American families attempt to modify their eating behaviors to align with MyPlate recommendations.

Evaluation Methods and Results:  The MyPlate initiative to communicate the Dietary Guidelines for Americans was launched in  June 2011.  Preliminary data show significant message reach to consumers of all ages and application by influencers.  Evaluation of the multi-component  program including  resources at ChooseMyPlate.gov and the e-tool at - ww.SuperTracker.usda.gov is ongoing.  It is premature to evaluate macro-level behavioral change, but it is completely appropriate to establish behavioral benchmarks now and to utilize available datasets to measure behavioral change over time.  These benchmarks will guide the development of future programs, strategies and interventions.  More important, they will help policy makers and program implementers to demonstrate that investments by Federal, State and local governments, and by thousands of private sector collaborators, are actually generating the desired outcomes.

Conclusions:  Once we understand the triggers for consumers to elect healthier habits, ways in which behavior changes over time, and how long it takes to affect change, more effective strategies and interventions can be developed. The developers and implementers of MyPlate initiatives are making use of a variety of tools to evaluate macro-level behavioral change over time.

Implications for research and/or practice:  Programs such as MyPlate are an invaluable part of the equation leading to better health for our communities.  Effecting behavioral change is the hardest part of the work facing public health professionals.  Both public and private datasets are available and should be leveraged to establish behavioral benchmarks for evaluation purposes.