Diet and Nutrition

How Would You Grade the American Diet ...

Americans are more informed about nutrition and its link with health and disease than ever before. Since diet is identified as one of the major modifiable risk factors for most chronic diseases, it seems logical that the American diet would have improved over the past 30 years...right? Here are some statistics that might surprise you.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been tracking the amount of food available to Americans since the early 1900s. These data are used to determine what Americans are eating and whether the American diet is moving in the right direction. When comparing our current food supply to that of 1970, Americans now:*

Eat more than twice as much cheese
- cheese is now the #1 source of saturated fat in our diet
Eat less beef
- although beef intake still exceeds intake of pork, poultry, or fish, the amount of poultry intake has been increasing steadily
Eat more flour
- only a small amount of this flour is whole grain
Eat 25% more sugar (152 pounds per person per year)
- soft drinks are the leading source of sugar
Drink 50 gallons of soft drinks per person per year
- soft drinks are the most popular beverage in the U.S.
Eat more fruits and vegetables!
- we are not yet consuming the recommended amount, but we are getting closer!
Drink less whole milk
- we still drink more whole & 2% fat milk than lower fat & skim milk
Eat slightly less butter and margarine, but more shortening and oil

Summary Although Americans have adopted some healthier food habits in the past few years, there is still much room for improvement! Our current lifestyle accounts for many of the changes in our diet. Busy Americans avoid the time-consuming tasks of grocery shopping and food preparation in lieu of quick, ready-prepared meals and snacks that require no clean-up. Americans now spend 50% of their total food dollars for ready-to-eat foods at restaurants and other food-service outlets. The most popular choices at these establishments are foods that are high in fat, saturated fat, and refined carbohydrates. This is a call for all health professionals to (1) learn as much as possible about nutrition, (2) motivate patients/clients to adopt healthy diet and exercise patterns, and (3) become role models for healthy lifestyle habits!

*These facts can be found in an article by Bonnie Liebman, "The changing American diet", in the Nutrition Action Newsletter, December 2002.

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Last Reviewed: Apr 07, 2006

Bonnie J. Brehm, PhD, RD
Professor
College of Nursing
University of Cincinnati