Overeating and carbs are making Americans fatter than ever - CDC says

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 06 Feb 2004 - 0:00 PDT


Americans are eating much more than they did 30 years ago, especially women. The US government says that the main problem are the amount and types of carbohydrates people are eating.

American women (year 2000), ate 335 more calories each day than they used to in 1971. Men ate 168 more calories. This is according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

'The majority of the increase in calories is from an increase in carbohydrate intake,' said Jacqueline Wrigh (CDC epidemiologist, study author).

She says the types of carbs to blame are products such as cookies, bagels, chips (crisps in UK English), pasta and sodas (soft fizzy drinks in UK English).

This increase in calorie consumption (and the types of foods they come from) are causing people to get fat and ill. Obesity rates jumped from 14.5 percent of U.S. adults in 1971 to 30.9 percent in 2000, said Wright.

The average consumption for men grew from 2,450 calories in 1971 to 2,618 calories in 2000. For women, it grew from 1,542 calories to 1,877.

The US government recommends that women should consume about 1,600 calories per day and men should consume 2,200 (active people would obviously need more).

CDC officials made no comment on the USDA's Food Pyramid. This Food Pyramid seems to encourage people to do exactly what this study tells them not to do - eat a diet heavy in breads, grains and lots of carbohydrates.

A federal panel will review the results of the study (this panel also examines dietary guidelines).

Dr. Atkins (the Atkins Diet) and Dr. Barry Sears (The Zone Diet) have long been saying that we (in the Western world) are eating too many carbohydrates and not enough protein and good quality fats.

In fact, Dr. Barry Sears, in his book 'Enter the Zone' which he wrote many years ago, said that government so called 'nutritionists' will eventually realise the damage they are doing to people's health with such recommendations and start asking people to eat fewer carbohydrates, especially the fast ones (high GI index ones) such as pasta, many breads, bagels and refined rice.

• Additional
• References
• Citations