Update on the American Diet

Update on the American Diet

The American diet is not changing quickly as reported in "The Changing American Diet," a series of reports by the Center for Science in the Public Interest which uses data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to grade the healthfulness of U.S. eaters. This latest report card doesn't look so different from the recent ones issued by the CSPI.

The report shows that we eat slightly less caloric sweetener, whole milk and beef than we did in 2000 -- but also a fair bit more cheese and way more yogurt. We eat less shortening and a lot more oil. We eat more or less the same amount of calories, fruits, vegetables, fruit and seafood. All in all, then, we're eating about as much, and about as healthily, as we were a decade ago.

For example, bread, bagels, pasta, crackers, cookies, scones, and muffins are very popular. Americans eat 109 pounds of flour per year. The peak was 116 pounds in 2000. We need to eat more whole grains and cut back on all grains.

Americans started eating more vegetables in the 1980’s but the rise has stalled. Fruit consumption except for juice has not changed much for well over 30 years. Eating fewer starches or increasing fruit and vegetable consumption would be beneficial.

Sweeteners have dropped from a high of 89 pounds in 1999. That mirrors the drop in sugarly soft drinks over the last decade. The current 78 pounds is still too high.