Profiling Food Consumption In America

At this point, we’ve established that, at its core, an individual’s weight is defined by the calories consumed, less the calories burned.  Accepting this as fact, I ran across an interesting document, published by the USDA.  It’s called the Agriculture Fact Book, 2001-2002.  Buried within this document is a chapter titled “Profiling Food Consumption in America.”  Here are some interesting tidbits.

• In 2000, the total food produced by the U.S. totaled 3800 calories per person.  This is compared to 3200 calories in 1957.
• 1,100 calories (per person) was lost in the form of spoilage, waste, and other waste
• This means that the average American consumed 2700 calories.  This is a 24.5% increase over 1970.

What must the natural conclusion from this data be?  More and more Americans are becoming overweight – to the tune of 62% of adults in the year 2000.  So what has driven the change?  USDA food intake surveys show that food consumption in America has changed dramatically over the last 50-years.  Take eating at restaurants for example.  In 1978, 18% of the food consumed in America was “take out.”  In 1996, that rose to 32%.  Other lifestyle factors that may be contributors to this trend include:  reduced activity levels, higher stress levels, less sleep… the list goes on.

In what other ways has food consumption in America changed?

A few other facts about how food consumption in America has changed in the last 50 years.  These are per person.

• The amount of caloric sweeteners (i.e. sugar) has increased 39% (52 teaspoons per day)
• Our consumption of meats has risen from 57 pounds per year to 195 pounds per year.
• Americans drink less beverage milk, which has been supplanted by sodas, fruit drinks, and flavored teas.
• We consumed 67% more fats and oils (74.5 pounds per year)
• The average American now meets or exceeds the recommended grain intake.  Unfortunately the majority of what is consumed is highly refined.
• On the plus side – our consumption of fruits and vegetables is up 20% over a 30-year period.

So what is the take-away about food consumption in America?

I mentioned earlier that when I started running, I was doing so on my lunch hour, and that the majority of my training occurred then.  What I failed to mention was that the majority of the time, I was going out to lunch with “the gang” from work.  My reasoning for exercising at lunch was that 1) it would not affect my time with family, and 2) I would save a little money by packing a lunch rather than eating out.

It is apparent to me now that at least a portion of my weight loss in the early training was that I simply wasn’t eating in restaurants as frequently.  What I’ve come to realize is that it is extremely difficult to eat at a restaurant and consume less than 1,000-calories.  The USDA has a great website for determining the calorie content, as well as other nutritional information about many of the foods we consume.  It is search-driven, which makes it easy.  You should check it out.

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