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Over the past several decades Americans have steadily gotten fatter. Although our increasingly sedentary lifestyles are partly to blame, a big reason for our national weight gain is that we're simply eating more.
In the mid-2000s, government surveys show, the average American adult ate about 2,375 calories per day, nearly one-third more than he (or she) did in the late 1970s. What accounts for all those added calories?
According to a new study, the biggest single contributor to the sharp rise in calorie intake has been the number of snacks and meals people eat per day. Over the past 30-odd years, the study found, Americans have gone from consuming 3.8 snacks and meals per day to 4.9, on average -- a 29 percent increase.
The average portion size has increased, too, but only by about 12 percent. And, surprisingly, the average number of calories per 1-gram serving of food (known as "energy density") actually declined slightly over that period, which suggests that calorie-rich food has played a relatively minor role in our expanding waistlines.
"The real reason we seem to be eating more [calories] is we're eating often," says the lead author of the study, Barry Popkin, Ph.D., a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "The frequency of eating is probably, for the average overweight adult, becoming a huge issue."
6 hours ago (5:34 AM)
The problem is what happens when they un-handcuff themselves. If your hormones are out of balance, a starvation diet will indeed make you lose weight, however even NORMAL eating will put it back on. Even restricted eating will put it back on.
20 hours ago (3:53 PM)
Couldn’t have said it better myself ! I GUARANTEE anyone who handcuffs themselves far from the pantry and fridge that in a few weeks of weight loss, they will toss all of these excuses about "genes", "hormones" and "glands" out the window; but many will argue "in between their spoon-fulls" that "they can’t help being born like this" like others will argue about their other "predispositions" OF THEIR OWN DAMN CHOICE – But how does one offer compelling evidence to anyone who is one nugget short of a Happy Meal ?
21 hours ago (2:43 PM)
Why are you gaining weight?? DUH!!!! You eat too much and don’t move enough!!!! And what you do eat is mostly GARBAGE!!! I read this in some nutrition book and it’s so true…
In the grocery store, if you spend most of your time walking up and down the aisles, you are NOT eating very well!!! That’s where all the processed food is!!!! EVERY grocery store has produce, meat, dairy on the outer edges…spend more time walking AROUND then up & down & you’ll be better off!!!!
21 hours ago (2:46 PM)
and by the way portion size IS waaaaaay out of control!!!! The kid’s meal at McDonalds is 25% larger than a burger, fries and a coke, that ADULTS got when they opened in the ’60′s!!!!! and your 5 year old is eating it!!!!!
19 hours ago (4:50 PM)
Grassfed beef has a better (healthier) fatty acid profile than grain-fed beef. Also, beef that are fed from grains are (at least slightly) higher contributors to greenhouse gases. I agree that eating whole foods, good oils, etc. is important and I actually practice that a lot on my own, but I think it is important to realize that it would be difficult if not impossible to feed the entire world on a wonderful sustainable diet. Americans are so used to paying so little for food (relative to the rest of the world and historically) that we get a little disingenuous about how much it costs. If food is 25% of you budget and you increase it again by 50%, it is 37.5%. Big, not impossible. If it is 75% of your current budget (see many people in developing countries) well, you can do the math. Doesn’t work.
20 hours ago (3:35 PM)
Bravo! Obviously you know your stuff!
Could you please explain to me why grassfed beef is better than grainfed?
Also, I’ve tried coconut oil in the past and it made feel quite ill. I’m not sure if I had too much to start with. Do you know about properly consuming coconut oil?
21 hours ago (2:47 PM)
Sure overeating is a problem, but the main reason why we gain weight and can’t keep it off or lose it is the grain/carb/sugar based diets we eat. Nobody wants to focus on the truth because farmers would lose money and these foods are so engrained(no pun intended) in our programmed minds. Our bodies simply do not need grains to survive, especially wheat, and it’s likely that fat, yes fat, mainly saturated fat is a better source of energy than complex carbohydrates. It’s a simple fact, grains spike insulin levels just like sugar does. Insulin is one of the main reasons for belly fat. Eating a diet with lots of orgainic vegetables(especially the dark green leafy stuff), good lower glycemic and highly nutritious organic fruits(grapefruit, blueberries, apples), organic nuts, organic free rangeeggs, organic grassfed wholemilk yogurt, organic grassfed beef, organic free range chicken, organic organ meats, good cold water sources of fish(sardines, wild alaskan salmon, etc.), and oils with fairly small amounts of omega 6 and preferrably higher amounts of saturated fat(my favorite is extra virgin unrefined coconut oil, which I also put in my smoothie-coconut oil has MCTs which are metabolized immediately by the liver and utilized for energy). There is a reason why our ancestors evolved to what we are today without eating the grains that most of us currently eat in our diet, and all the other crap of course.
16 hours ago (7:35 PM)
I think it is. So much artificial flavors and enhancers like MSG which makes you crave more and high fructose corn syrup which is converted to fat rather than burned like glucose,
21 hours ago (2:54 PM)
no one says you have to eat the whole serving. its not the foods fault people are overweight,
07:27 PM on 6/29/2011
appetizers in any food chain (Chilli’s, Applebee’s) are all over 500 calories
11:20 AM on 6/30/2011
darn, you ruined the surprise !!
10:00 PM on 6/29/2011
No sheet Sherlock, we eat too many calories so we have gotten fat. Next thing they’ll tell us is we don’t get enough exercise.
10:03 AM on 6/30/2011
top it off with a diet coke
11:13 PM on 6/29/2011
Three sleeves of Oreos and a pint of Haagen Dazs isn’t a snack
11:19 AM on 6/30/2011
true dat.
01:34 AM on 6/30/2011
A lot of the reason is that, when we snack, we aren’t usually grabbing a piece of fruit or a couple of carrot sticks. We probably don’t even go to the trouble of toasting a piece of bread and spreading on some peanut butter. Most of the time it’s not even about hunger, just boredom and convenience. It’s a battle I’ve fought for years, so I know whereof I speak!
11:31 AM on 6/30/2011
You’re right in that if something works for you, then it does. I do better on 2 meals a day than on 3, myself.
10:21 AM on 6/30/2011
Well it doesn’t look like Americans eating multiple meals a day are all that healthy either…
Personally, I don’t really pay too much attention to my health. I’m too busy having fun to care.
03:34 AM on 6/30/2011
You eat once a day? That seriously can’t be healthy.
01:36 AM on 6/30/2011
My female friend decided to eat 6 small meals a day. She gained weight. I decided to eat one large meal a day. I’ve lost 60 pounds. I make fun of her for this.
02:47 AM on 6/30/2011
This is not the case with me. I don’t snack at all. I rarely eat anything between meals. Portion size is always a killer for me.
04:27 AM on 6/30/2011
In addition to ‘when we eat, how much we eat and what we eat" people should pay attention to HOW they eat: technique, speed and attention. The habit of cramming one’s mouth full, then reaching for another handful, fork or spoonful before one has finished chewing the previous ‘delivery’ is a habit to avoid. Better to put down the implement and finish chewing the food that’s in one’s mouth before shoveling more in. Gulping, bolting, pounding instead of eating slowly and carefully is something else that contributes to obesity. So does ‘automatic eating’…having a bag of chips or bowl of snacks in front of the tv or computer...and absently dipping one’s mitt in without any attention paid to the amount being consumed. Instead, try making up a serving in the kitchen and carrying it out to the location where it will be eaten. Tell yourself, "That’s how much I”m going to have." and do your best to stick to your words. Quality over quantity and awareness instead of mindless routine!
11:29 AM on 6/30/2011
The health area is for pseudoscientific "nutrition" articles written by non-practicing physicians trying to sell their books.
09:50 AM on 6/30/2011
The don’t really post anything in the health area anymore…
06:28 AM on 6/30/2011
This should be in the health area.
07:12 AM on 6/30/2011
Seven meals a day. That could do it.
21 hours ago (3:00 PM)
Don’t walk, do something more labor intensive and build some muscle. That will allow you to eat more.
21 hours ago (2:57 PM)
Unfortunately, most people are completely unaware of the hormonal aspect.
20% of all female bodies autopsied in the US are found to have a benign tumor on the pituitary gland. This tumor causes Cushing’s Disease, an ailment that increases the levels of cortisol in the body and throws the hormones out of balance, slowing the metabolism and leading to rapid weight gain and constantly feeling tired, along with other problems such as thinning hair and skin, high blood sugar and emotional instability. It’s like having pregnancy hormones racing through your body at all times.
It is very difficult to make the public aware of this issue, and I suspect that the multi-billion dollar weight loss industry may be contributing to that. If people see an endocrinologist and get treatment for the underlying cause, they won’t need to pay Jenny Craig or the makers of dangerous diet pills to treat the symptoms.
09:53 AM on 6/30/2011
How much do you sleep? How much water do you drink per day? Do you take personal time off? Some many people’s hormones are out of wack.
08:30 AM on 6/30/2011
I am 5′ 6" tall. 2 years ago I weighed 200 lbs. Now I weigh 135, and have kept to that weight for about a year. I find it amazing just how low my calorie count has to be to keep the weight off. I also walk between 40 minutes and an hour every day. I have to keep my calorie intake to about 1200 to 1400 per day, or the weight starts to tick upward. I eat almost no meat. I eat no white rice, white bread, etc. I make alot of my food from fresh vegetables. I don’t fry anything. I make my own vegetable soup, my own fat free hummus, etc. I eat fruit in season, when it is affordable.