The sunny side of a USDA examination of food consumption is that Americans are eating more fruits and vegetables than they did four decades ago. In fact, they’re eating a lot more of everything, except for dairy products — nearly 400 calories a day more — during a period of rising rates of obesity.
“Growing concern over the health of the American population from poor dietary habits and physical inactivity has concentrated attention on the food Americans eat, as well as how Americans could better meet the federal dietary guidelines,” writes USDA economist Jeanine Bentley. Based on data for food availability, as a gauge of U.S. consumption, Americans currently consume an average 2,390 calories a day, compared to 2,016 calories in 1970.
“On average, Americans consume too many foods that are high in added fats and oils, added sugar and sweeteners, and grains,” said the report, “and they consume too few foods and beverages that are nutrient-dense, such as vegetables, seafood, low-fat dairy products and fruit, on the basis of a 2,000-calorie per day diet.”
Since 1970, the U.S. obesity rate has tripled. More than 36 percent of adults and 17 percent of youths are obese, says the CDC, with an estimated annual medical cost of $147 billion from obesity and its related diseases.
Americans consume an average of 131 pounds a year of added sugars and sweeteners, down 14 percent from the record 153.1 pounds in 1999 but still more than 10 percent more than in 1970. The greatest factor in the decline was a reduction in the use of high-fructose corn syrup, said USDA. Overall, Americans consume the equivalent of 23 teaspoons of added sugars and sweeteners per person per day, or 366 calories, far above the recommendation in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans to limit added sugars and sweeteners to 10 percent of calories. For a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, that’s 200 calories or 12.5 teaspoons.
Consumption of added fats and oils leaped in the years since 1970 to an average of 63 grams, or nearly 570 calories, a day, according to USDA.
Fruit consumption was up 10 percent and vegetable consumption was up 17 percent from 1970. All the same, Americans consume 43 percent of the recommended two cups a day of fruit and 66 percent of the suggested 2.5 cups a day of vegetables. Dairy consumption runs at half of the recommended three cups a day.