American Kids' Diets Fall Below National Dietary Guidelines

Eats your peas and carrots, kids — and more whole grains and seafood, too. A government report reveals that American kids' diets fall far below national dietary recommendations, according to Live Science.

To measure the quality of kids' diets, researchers used a scale from zero to 100, with 100 representing a diet that met national dietary guidelines. The average score was 50 for kids aged two to 17 in 2007 and 2008, with 2008 being the most recently published study.

When looking at specific food groups, it was found that kids came close to meeting dietary guidelines for dairy and protein, with average scores in the 80s. But when looking at whole grains, greens, and beans, most kids scored very low on the scale with average scores ranging from 14 to 18.

The report suggested that kids eat more vegetables, whole grains, and seafood in order to improve their dietary scores and meet national recommendations.