Nutrition Facts Label Use and Adherence to the DASH Dietary Pattern: Results From a National Health and Nutrition Survey

ORIGINAL RESEARCH — Volume 22 — June 26, 2025

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Figure 1.
Distribution of DASH accordance and DASH nutrient targets, by NFL user groups overall and by sex (A, all users; B, male users; C, female users). DASH score was determined based on adherence to 9 target nutrients, as established by Mellen et al (18). DASH nutrient score targets: DASH accordant, score ≥4.5; SFA, ≤6% of energy; total fat, ≤27% of energy; protein, ≥18% of energy; cholesterol, ≤71.4 mg/1,000 kcal; dietary fibers, ≥14.8 g/1,000 kcal; magnesium, ≥238 mg/1,000 kcal; calcium, ≥590 mg/1,000 kcal; potassium, ≥2,238 mg/1,000 kcal; sodium, ≤1,143 mg/1,000 kcal. Abbreviations: DASH, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension; NFL, Nutrition Facts Label; SFA, saturated fatty acids.

Distribution of DASH accordance and DASH nutrient targets, by NFL user groups overall and by sex (A, all users; B, male users; C, female users). DASH score was determined based on adherence to 9 target nutrients, as established by Mellen et al (18). DASH nutrient score targets: DASH accordant, score ≥4.5; SFA, ≤6% of energy; total fat, ≤27% of energy; protein, ≥18% of energy; cholesterol, ≤71.4 mg/1,000 kcal; dietary fibers, ≥14.8 g/1,000 kcal; magnesium, ≥238 mg/1,000 kcal; calcium, ≥590 mg/1,000 kcal; potassium, ≥2,238 mg/1,000 kcal; sodium, ≤1,143 mg/1,000 kcal. Abbreviations: DASH, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension; NFL, Nutrition Facts Label; SFA, saturated fatty acids.
DASH nutrient target All, % P value Male users, % P value Female users, % P value
DASH accordant
NFL users 32.1 <.001 26.4 .002 35.9 <.001
Non-NFL users 20.6 18.5 22.8
Saturated fatty acids
NFL users 65.1 .72 67.7 .56 63.4 .10
Non-NFL users 64.4 69.4 59.0
Total fat
NFL users 45.2 .62 46.1 .77 44.6 .78
Non-NFL users 46.2 47.0 45.4
Protein
NFL users 56.2 <.001 59.3 .04 54.1 <.001
Non-NFL users 47.6 53.0 41.7
Cholesterol
NFL users 40.0 .41 37.5 .90 41.6 .07
Non-NFL users 41.6 37.1 46.5
Fibers
NFL users 71.6 <.001 63.1 <.001 77.3 <.001
Non-NFL users 56.2 51.5 61.4
Magnesium
NFL users 71.6 <.001 70.4 .03 72.5 <.001
Non-NFL users 61.5 64.0 58.8
Calcium
NFL users 45.9 <.001 35.0 .02 53.0 <.001
Non-NFL users 34.6 28.3 41.4
Potassium
NFL users 53.0 <.001 45.3 .05 58.0 <.001
Non-NFL users 37.7 36.8 38.7
Sodium
NFL users 23.3 .16 21.3 .82 24.6 .03
Non-NFL users 25.8 21.9 30.0

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Figure 2.
Odds of being accordant with the DASH diet (DASH score ≥4.5 vs <4.5), according to NFL user groups and covariates. DASH score was determined based on adherence to 9 target nutrients, as established by Mellen et al (18). Dots represent adjusted odds ratios and lines represent 95% confidence intervals. Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; DASH, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension; NFL, Nutrition Facts Label.

Odds of being accordant with the DASH diet (DASH score ≥4.5 vs <4.5), according to NFL user groups and covariates. DASH score was determined based on adherence to 9 target nutrients, as established by Mellen et al (18). Dots represent adjusted odds ratios and lines represent 95% confidence intervals. Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; DASH, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension; NFL, Nutrition Facts Label.
Covariate Odds ratio (95% confidence interval)
NFL users vs non-NFL users 1.52 (1.20–1.93)
Age in years (5-year intervals) 1.35 (1.21–1.51)
Women vs men 1.48 (1.17–1.88)
Education in years (>12 vs ≤12) 1.07 (0.84–1.38)
Arabs vs Jews 1.17 (0.85–1.61)
Married vs unmarried 1.02 (0.77–1.34)
BMI, kg/m2 (5-unit intervals) 1.06 (0.93–1.20)
Smoking (ever vs never) 1.16 (0.89–1.52)
Physical activity as recommended (yes vs no) 1.75 (1.37–2.23)
Hypercholesterolemia (yes vs no) 1.21 (0.84–1.74)
Hypertension (yes vs no) 0.99 (0.71–1.39)
Comorbidity, no. of chronic diseases (high ≥2 vs low <2) 0.92 (0.65–1.30)

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