What percentage of adults consume cheese, and does it differ by gender and age?

Overall, 68% of adults consume cheese on any given day with no statistical difference by gender (69% of males versus 68% of females). An inverse linear trend in the percentage consuming cheese by age was found among all adults and among males (p<0.001; Figure 1).

Figure 1

Prevalence (%) of cheese consumption among adults age 20+ years, by gender and age, WWEIA, NHANES 2017 - 2018. *For all adults and by gender, inverse linear trend in cheese consumption by age (p<0.001) based on regression analysis.

Does the prevalence of cheese consumption differ by race/ethnicity or family income?

Non-Hispanic (NH) Asian adults are less likely to consume cheese on the intake day as compared to NH White, NH Black, and Hispanic adults (Figure 2). This difference is seen among all adults as well as by gender.

As shown in Figure 3, there are no statistically significant differences in the prevalence of cheese consumption by income (p>0.001).

Figure 2

Prevalence (%) of cheese consumption among adults age 20+ years, by gender and race/ethnicity, WWEIA, NHANES 2017- 2018. ^a,b,cFor all adults and by gender, percentage estimates with different superscripts differ by race/ethnicity (p<0.001) based (more...)

Figure 3

Prevalence (%) of cheese consumption among adults age 20+ years, by gender and family income as % of poverty level¹, WWEIA, NHANES 2017- 2018. ¹Ratio of family income to the federal poverty guidelines expressed as a percentage. See definition of “family (more...)

From what sources is cheese obtained?

The majority of cheese is obtained from grocery stores (Figure 4). Restaurants, fast food and other types, are the other main source of cheese.

Figure 4

Source of cheese among adults age 20+ years, WWEIA, NHANES 2017- 2018. ¹Includes restaurant with waiter/waitress service; bar/tavern/lounge; cafeteria; and restaurant, not further specified. ²Includes sources not specifically shown, e.g., someone else/gift (more...)

At what eating occasions is cheese consumed?

As shown in Table 1, adults consume cheese at all types of occasions, with nearly 4 in 10 (39%) consuming it at dinner. The mean intake ranges from 27 g at breakfast to about 1-1/2 times that amount-39 g- at dinner.

Table 1

Percentage consuming cheese at specified eating occasion and mean intake when consumed at that occasion, adults age 20+ years, WWEIA, NHANES 2017- 2018.

What types of foods account for cheese intake?

Among adults, total mean intake of cheese is 34 grams per day. Most of that intake is consumed in mixed dishes, including sandwiches, pizza, and Mexican foods such as tacos, burritos, and quesadillas (Figure 5).

By weight, natural cheese (e.g., cheddar), comprises 75% of intake by adults, processed cheese (e.g., American), 17%, and cottage cheese, 8% (data not shown).

Figure 5

Percentage of total cheese intake consumed by WWEIA Food Category¹ among adults age 20+ years, WWEIA, NHANES 2017 – 2018. ¹See definition of “WWEIA Food Categories” on page 8. ²Percentages do not add to total (70) due to rounding. (more...)

In what food categories is cheese commonly consumed?

A detailed way of characterizing contributors to cheese intake is to examine the prevalence of consumption and weight of report by food category. More than half of all U.S. adults consume cheese in a mixed dish on any given day (54 percent; Table 2). The amount of cheese consumed per report of a mixed dish is 32 g overall, but ranges from 16 g per report of macaroni and cheese to 53 g per report of pizza.

Table 2

Percentage of adults consuming cheese-containing foods in WWEIA Food Categories and mean amount of cheese per report, age 20+ years, 2017 – 2018.

Does intake of nutrients per 1,000 kilocalories differ between cheese consumers and non-consumers?

When considered on a 1,000 kilocalories basis, intake of fat, saturated fat, and calcium is higher among cheese consumers (Table 3). Except for total fat intake among males, these differences are also seen by gender. In contrast, lower intakes of carbohydrate are seen among cheese consumers (all and by gender) and dietary fiber (all adults only). Intake of other nutrients shown below do not differ on this basis.

Overall, cheese is low in carbohydrate, added sugars, and dietary fiber. The daily intake of these nutrients among cheese consumers shown is attributable to foods other than cheese that are consumed.

Table 3

Mean daily intake of selected nutrients per 1,000 kilocalories by cheese consumption status among adults age 20+ years, all and by gender, 2017 – 2018.

Among consumers, how much does cheese contribute to total daily intakes of energy and nutrients?

Cheese contributes an average of 164 kilocalories to the intakes of adult consumers, as well as 13 g of total fat, 7 g of saturated fat, and 365 mg of calcium (data not shown).

Except for carbohydrate, the percentage contributions of cheese to total daily intake of the nutrients shown are higher than its energy contribution. In fact, contributions to saturated fat and calcium intake are more than three and four times higher, respectively. Conversely, the contribution of cheese to intake of dietary fiber, added sugars, and potassium is no more than 2 percent of total daily intake (data not shown).

Figure 6

Contributions of cheese to total daily intakes of energy and selected nutrients among cheese consumers¹, adults age 20+ years, 2017 – 2018. ¹See definition of “consumer/non-consumer” on page 8.

Definitions

Consumer/non-consumer

In general, anyone who consumed cheese alone or as an ingredient in any type of food was considered a “consumer,” whereas anyone who did not was considered a “non-consumer.” In all, 2,918 adults were classified as cheese consumers (1,433 males and 1,485 females), and 1,824 were classified as non-consumers (874 males and 950 females). Classification as a consumer or non-consumer for this analysis has no implications as to habitual consumption.

Cup equivalents

a standard that determines comparable amounts of various foods in a food group for the purpose of comparing dietary intake to national recommendations (5). In the dairy group, one cup equivalent is the amount of food considered equal to 1 cup of milk. In general, 1 cup of yogurt equals 1 cup equivalent of dairy. However, translation of cheese amounts to cup equivalents of dairy varies both by cheese type (e.g., natural, processed, cottage) and the specific cheese within that type (e.g., for natural cheese, Swiss, cheddar, blue). The ranges of cheese amounts that constitute one cup equivalent of dairy are as follows: natural cheese, 1 to 2 ounces; processed cheese, 1-1/2 to 2 ounces; cottage cheese, 4-1/2 to 10-1/2 ounces (6). (Note: 1 ounce = 28.35 grams). National intake estimates of cheese in cup equivalents are available at www.ars.usda.gov/northeast-area/beltsville-md-bhnrc/beltsville-human-nutrition-research-center/food-surveys-research-group/docs/fped-data-tables/.

Eating occasion

Designated by the respondent, eating occasions with the following English and Spanish names were grouped together: breakfast, desayano, and almuerzo; lunch, brunch, and comida; dinner, supper, and cena; and snack, drink, merienda, entre comida, botana, bocadillo, tentempie, bebida, and items consumed over an extended period of time. The time an eating occasion occurs has no implications as to its type, e.g., breakfast occasions could occur at all times of day and night.

Family income (as percentage of poverty level)

the ratio of family income to poverty expressed as a percentage. The Department of Health and Human Services’ poverty guidelines were used as the poverty measure to calculate the ratio (7).

Kilocalories

Scientific unit used in reporting the energy content of food; shortened to “calories” in casual usage in the U.S.

WWEIA Food Categories

Available at www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=23429 is a full list of the WWEIA Food Categories, a scheme for classifying each food and beverage reported in WWEIA, NHANES into one of 169 mutually exclusive categories. In contrast to the WWEIA Food Categories’ item-by-item classification, this analysis classified as a group any foods or beverages that were represented in the dietary data by two or more items linked as having been consumed together. In such cases, all the linked items were classified together into the most appropriate WWEIA Food Category. For example, a ham and cheese sandwich represented in the dietary data as white bread, deli ham, American cheese, and mayonnaise would be assigned to the “deli and cured meat sandwiches” group, along with similar sandwiches that were not represented by multiple items, i.e., the “single-code sandwiches” that make up the WWEIA Food Category “mixed dishes - sandwiches (single code) – deli and cured meat sandwiches.”

Data source

Estimates in this data brief are based on one day of dietary intake data from WWEIA, NHANES 2017-2018 (8). Day 1 dietary data were collected in person using the 5-step USDA Automated Multiple-Pass Method for the 24-hour recall. A total of 4,742 individuals 20 years of age and older (2,307 males and 2,435 females) provided complete and reliable dietary intake data. Pregnant (n = 48) and lactating (n = 38) females were retained. In the race-specific analyses (see page 2), individuals who were multi-racial or of a racial group other than those listed (236 adults, of whom 150 were cheese consumers) were excluded. Likewise, in the income-specific analyses (also on page 2), individuals with missing family income information (558 adults, of whom 334 were cheese consumers) were excluded. Sample weights were applied in all analyses to produce estimates that were representative of the U.S. population for the years of collection. Intakes of energy and nutrients were calculated using the 2017-2018 version of USDA’s Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies (9). Intake of added sugars was calculated using the Food Patterns Equivalents Database 2017-2018 (6).

References

1.

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. The Nutrition Source: Cheese. https://www​.hsph.harvard​.edu/nutritionsource/cheese. Accessed October 18, 2023.

2.

USDA Agricultural Research Service. Food Data Central. https://fdc​.nal.usda.gov. Accessed October 23, 2023.

3.

USDA Economic Research Service. Ag and Food Statistics: Charting the Essentials. Food Availability and Consumption. https://www​.ers.usda​.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials​/food-availability-and-consumption/. Accessed November 1, 2023.

4.

Cifelli CJ, Fulgoni K, Fulgoni VL III, Hess, JM. Disparity in dairy servings intake by ethnicity and age in NHANES 2015-2018. Curr Dev Nutr. 2022;7(2):100010. doi: 10.1016/j.cdnut.2022.100010. [PMC free article: PMC10111593] [PubMed: 37180086] [CrossRef]

5.

U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dietary Guidelines 2020-2025. 9^th edition. December 2020. https://www​.dietaryguidelines​.gov/sites/default​/files/2021-03​/Dietary_Guidelines​_for_Americans-2020-2025.pdf. Accessed January 12, 2024.

6.

USDA Food Surveys Research Group. Food Patterns Equivalents Databases and SAS Datasets. www​.ars.usda.gov/fsrg/fped/download. Accessed September 29, 2023.

7.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Poverty guidelines. https://aspe​.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines. Accessed October 31, 2023.

8.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. NHANES Questionnaires, Datasets, and Related Documentation. https://wwwn​.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/. Accessed October 31, 2023.

9.

USDA Food Surveys Research Group. FNDDS Documentation and Databases. www​.ars.usda.gov/fsrg/fndds/download. Accessed September 27, 2023.

Sebastian RS, Goldman JD, Moshfegh AJ. Cheese Consumption by U.S. Adults: What We Eat in America, NHANES 2017- 2018. Food Surveys Research Group Dietary Data Brief No. 61. May 2024.