Posted on 02/06/2004 1:21:29 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
Pancakes, pizza or pastry -- whatever your pleasure, you're probably eating more of it, says a new study that finds American adults consume about 13 percent more calories than they did three decades ago, a period in which the obesity rate doubled.
While people are starting to exercise more, another study says, it's not at levels high enough to have much of a health effect. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta released both studies Thursday.
The CDC research on food intake, based on a series of surveys, found that women ate 1,877 calories a day in 1999-2000, up 22 percent from 1971-1974. Men took in 2,618 calories a day in 1999-2000, up 7 percent over the same period.
Federal healthy diet guidelines for sedentary adults call for about 1,600 calories a day for most women and about 2,200 calories a day for many men, but allow for more calories if people are active.
What are those extra calories we've added over the years? Mostly carbohydrates.
Carbs accounted for 13 percent more of the average diet in 1999-2000 than in 1971-1974. Fat intake remained roughly the same, though it now accounts for a smaller percentage of total calories. The percentage of protein in diets has dropped slightly.
The rise in carbohydrate consumption has come as the nation's obesity rate has soared, with 31 percent of adults now considered obese, having enough excess body fat to threaten their health. But researchers hesitate to endorse the low-carb diet craze.
"Obesity is a complex issue, with a lot of underlying factors -- lifestyle behaviors, environmental factors, genetics," said Jacqueline Wright of the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, who conducted the study. "We need to focus on our overall calorie intakes."
Chris Rosenbloom, associate dean of Georgia State University's College of Health and Human Sciences, noted that the CDC study didn't look at what kinds of food people eat, so it's impossible to know whether they are consuming more "good" or "bad" carbohydrates.
"If it was from fruits and vegetables, I'd be saying, 'Great!' If it was from soft drinks, desserts and sugar-laden products, then it's not so good," Rosenbloom said. "The bottom line is that calories count, and you have to be careful about an increase from any source."
Karen Miller Kovach, chief scientific officer for Weight Watchers International, attributed the rise in carbohydrate intake to the low-fat diet frenzy that started in the 1970s, peaking in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
"People felt that by cutting out fat, they'd lose weight," she said. "But they ended up eating less fat and more calories and gained weight."
Fast food, takeout meals, larger portion sizes and a preponderance of pizza, soft drinks and salty snacks account for many of the extra calories people are consuming, other studies have found.
For retired teacher Daphne Evans of Atlanta, the most troubling temptation is a gooey, hot cinnamon roll.
"I try not to have them in the house, but it's hard," said the 73-year-old from Grant Park, who was trying to work off a few extra pounds Thursday at the East Lake Family YMCA. Since starting a new diet and exercise program this year, Evans has tried to keep bananas handy.
"I'm trying to limit the sweets for when I go to the bookstore to read," she said.
The other CDC study found that 75 percent of adults surveyed in 35 states had done some kind of physical activity unrelated to work in the past month in 2002, up from 68 percent in 1989.
The activities include running, calisthenics, golf, gardening and walking.
Other studies have found that few people meet recommendations by the Institute of Medicine -- which advises Congress -- that they should be physically active for an hour a day.
But CDC researchers heralded the increase in leisure-time activity as a good sign.
"For the first time, this study shows we're making some real progress in this area," said study author Sandra Ham, of the CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.
"But there's still a lot of work that needs to be done to increase physical activity levels in the U.S."
Take one's blood sugar before and after drinking a cola, be it diet cola or the regular. Yet, no mention of this little demon.
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