more on "fat"

[lauralh]

Americans at the beginning of the 21st century are consuming more food and several hundred more calories per person per day than did their counterparts in the late 1950s (when per capita calorie consumption was at the lowest level in the last century), or even in the 1970s. The aggregate food supply in 2000 provided 3,800 calories per person per day, 500 calories above the 1970 level and 800 calories above the record low in 1957 and 1958. Of that 3,800 calories, USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) estimates that roughly 1,100 calories were lost to spoilage, plate waste, and cooking and other losses, putting dietary intake of calories in 2000 at just under 2,700 calories per person per day.

ERS data suggest that average daily calorie intake increased by 24.5 percent, or about 530 calories, between 1970 and 2000. Of that 24.5-percent increase, grains (mainly refined grain products) contributed 9.5 percentage points; added fats and oils, 9.0 percentage points; added sugars, 4.7 percentage points; fruits and vegetables together, 1.5 percentage points; meats and nuts together, 1 percentage point; and dairy products and eggs together, -1.5 percentage point...

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, an astounding 62 percent of adult Americans were overweight in 2000, up from 46 percent in 1980. Twenty-seven percent of adults were so far overweight that they were classified as obese (at least 30 pounds above their healthy weight)–twice the percentage classified as such in 1960. Alarmingly, an upward trend in obesity is also occurring for U.S. children.

Although multiple factors can account for weight gain, the basic cause is an excess of energy intake over energy expenditure. In general, Americans’ activity levels have not kept pace with their increase in calorie consumption. Many people apparently are oblivious to the number of calories they consume...

In the 1950s, the fats and oils group (composed of added fats and oils) contributed the most fat to the food supply (41 percent), followed by the meat, poultry, and fish group (32 percent). By 1999, the fats and oils group’s contribution to total fat had jumped 12 percentage points to 53 percent, probably due to the higher consumption of fried foods in foodservice outlets, the increase in consumption of high-fat snack foods, and the increased use of salad dressings. Margarine, salad dressings and mayonnaise, cakes and other sweet baked goods, and oils continue to appear in the top 10 foods for fat contribution, according to recent USDA food intake surveys, which indicates the ongoing prevalence of discretionary fats in Americans’ diets.

Americans have become conspicuous consumers of sugar and sweet-tasting foods and beverages. Per capita consumption of caloric sweeteners (dry-weight basis)–mainly sucrose (table sugar made from cane and beets) and corn sweeteners (notably high-fructose corn syrup, or HFCS)–increased 43 pounds, or 39 percent, between 1950-59 and 2000. In 2000, each American consumed an average 152 pounds of caloric sweeteners, 3 pounds below 1999’s record average 155 pounds. That amounted to more than two-fifths of a pound–or 52 teaspoonfuls–of added sugars per person per day in 2000. Of that 52 teaspoons, ERS estimates that Americans wasted or otherwise lost 20 teaspoons, resulting in an average intake of about 32 teaspoons of added sugars per person per day. [emph. mine]

USDA recommends that the average person on a 2,000-calorie daily diet include no more than 40 grams of added sugars. That’s about 10 teaspoons, or the amount of sugar in a 12-ounce soft drink. Sugar–including sucrose, corn sweeteners, honey, maple syrup, and molasses–is ubiquitous and often hidden. In a sense, sugar is the number one food additive. It turns up in some unlikely places, such as pizza, bread, hot dogs, boxed mixed rice, soup, crackers, spaghetti sauce, lunch meat, canned vegetables, fruit drinks, flavored yogurt, ketchup, salad dressing, mayonnaise, and some peanut butter. Carbonated sodas provided more than a fifth (22 percent) of the refined and added sugars in the 2000 American food supply, compared with 16 percent in 1970.

edit:

Percent Increase in Obesity Rates Since 1971:

# Less than $25,000: increase of 144%
# $25,000-$40,000: increase of 194%
# $40,000-$60,000: increase of 209%
# More than $60,000: increase of 276%

Comments

[lisa.livejournal.com]

Prior to realizing I needed to drop some weight a couple years back I really honestly had no idea how many calories I consumed a day. I'd never really read a nutrition label with any kind of basis for understanding. It sounds really naive and ignorant because I was! Public school education and a very overweight parent no doubt led to my complete lack of understanding about nutrition.

That's the only positive thing I see about all these diet fads. If anything getting people aware of what they're putting in their mouth is a start.

[herbaliser.livejournal.com]

hahah, my public school forced me to take home ec so I knew all about calories. My mom has simply made me ultra-paranoid about being fat, although I didn't even care till I was 23. But then that's about when my entire family, including my formerly boney brothers, "exploded."

[llarian.livejournal.com]

>$60k is considered rich? Wow, who knew?

[skiplogic.livejournal.com]

60k is rolling in it.

[a-muse-d.livejournal.com]

i made under $14,000 last year and during the second half when i had the good job, i considered myself very well off.

so yeah, 60k *is* rolling in it. this is, of course, when you don't have debt of any kind. isn't 30k a year considered Middle Class and under 20k "poverty level"?

[herbaliser.livejournal.com]

under 10K i believe.

[a-muse-d.livejournal.com]

ahhh.. for some reason i was thinking about how most teachers don't make much more than 22k, and that was riding the poverty line

[llarian.livejournal.com]

That metric is highly area dependant. Cost of living is a factor.

But, yeah, I have no idea honestly. Most people I know making $60-$70k sure don't seem rich to me. Although, as you rightly said, debt is a factor as well.

[a-muse-d.livejournal.com]

i don't know where you live, i grant you, but i live in downtown Seattle now, and i don't think i'm making more than 18k this year, which would mean that if i found a roommate instead of attempting to keep my swell 2-bedroom all by myself until said roommate is FOUND, i'd be rolling in munneh.

so.. yes. there are many things to consider.

[llarian.livejournal.com]

Hm. I don't think my continuing this thread further is a particularly good idea, I already look like an ass. =)

I do believe my flippant comment has been proven at least somewhat wrong though.

[a-muse-d.livejournal.com]

well, you could compare it to where you live and how much you make in contrast to what i've said. :)

[llarian.livejournal.com]

Oh, I already did. I live in Seattle as well. I'm going to keep my mouth shut as to how much I make. Thank you for a little perspective, BTW. =)

[a-muse-d.livejournal.com]

hey man, share the wealth ;p

[scarlett723.livejournal.com]

20K is poverty level for a family of four.

[doyouhaveaflag.livejournal.com]

haha. it's always funny to me how differently people from different parts of the country view money. down here it seems like 60k is poverty level.

[llarian.livejournal.com]

That was kinda my point. =)

[a-muse-d.livejournal.com]

i'd like to work where 60k is "poverty level" and bring that back here :P

[skiplogic.livejournal.com]

great article, thx

[lemur68.livejournal.com]

too fat; didn't read

[bitchness.livejournal.com]

Heh... I've been super skinny all my life, and have always pretty much eaten whatever I wanted. Up until I was about 27, and then I got fat. Not super fat, I'm still within guidelines for my height (150 is 'moderately overweight' for my height), but fat for me. Going from 105 to 145 in a period of a couple of years is shocking. I started paying attention to what I eat, and now I try not to go over 12-1400 calories per day. Today I went nuts and had 1600 calories! Oh my! I now wonder how I could have eaten so much before, because after I eat dinner now I'm totally stuffed.

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

This is why people should cook their own damn food.

[pootrootbeer.livejournal.com]

So much agreed.

Packaged food manufacturers and vendors don't give a damn about nutrition, except possibly as a marketing gimmick (10 ESSENTIAL VITAMINS AND MINERALS!).

[gfrancie.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Like those cereal ads for kids. "Part of a complete breakfast" and you see the cereal along with fruit, toast, orange juice and milk.

That is a bit like saying, "crack part of a complete dinner."

[a-muse-d.livejournal.com]

*munches Doritos*

i'm 5'9" and 130 lbs with my clothes on. should i care about this? i think i don't get enough fats and sugars in my diet. there's little time for eating in the retail world. probably why i prefer sugary liquors. i always forget that i have snack food in my cupboards.. and by the time i remember, it's usually bedtime and i don't like the thought of that floating around in there overnight *LOL* or i eat a bit of it at a time like now, when i absolutely CAN'T wait for dinner to finish cooking.

of course, i DO have a mother that was anorexic when she was my age and who only recently got herself back under 200 lbs after being there for.. over a decade, i believe. it fluctuated in that time, though, if i recall correctly. so she's made a good example of where i don't want to be.

i need more exercise though, for sure. toning would be a nice thing. :P

[herbaliser.livejournal.com]

you should care only if your cholesterol is high. otherwise enjoy yourself.

[bewing.livejournal.com]

I'm slightly hyper-thyroid -- so anything I eat I burn off instantly as heat. (I really prefer to live in a cool climate, as I like to eat lots of yummy stuff!) So I'm just a hair under 6' and 160 lbs.

The thing that makes me wonder most about this article is the way they completely screwed up the two chemicals "sucrose" and "glucose". If they messed THAT up so badly, what else did they screw up?

But I agree completely with gfrancie. Cook your own food -- even 1950's style food for god's sake -- steak and potatoes!, and you don't have to worry about all this crap.