Big Food Makes Big Americans

July 31, 2008 | 2 Comments

It’s not shocking that Americans eat too much. I just didn’t know how much.

“We’re eating 3,747 calories/day on average when the recommended average is somewhere around 2,000?!?!?!!!!” (source)

I’ll put that into perspective. I’m 5′10″, which is about 4 inches taller than the average American woman. I weigh around 170 pounds, which is about 10 pounds heavier than the average American woman. I eat about 1600 to 2600 calories a day depending on my activity, my weight loss goals, the food available, my mood, etc. I am right at the cusp of “healthy weight” and “overweight” according to US governmental guidelines.

The average American eats over 1000 more calories a day than I do and I’m sure they don’t burn it off at the gym or on the farm.

Since it’s the average, that means it’s a social problem. Certainly some people do manual labor and require 3000+ calories. Some people are athletes and require 3000+ calories. Some people have medical conditions that require 3000+ calories a day. But on average, 3747 calories a day is too many. On average, it’s wasteful, it’s unhealthy, and worse, it’s not being dealt with properly.

While the mainstream media is talking about “The Obesity Epidemic” and making individuals feel guilty, few are seriously tackling the root causes of this problem:

School Cafeterias: unhealthy school lunches that are packed with meat, dairy, and junk food and light on fresh fruits and veggies, (read more regarding cafeteria lunches here)
The Government: inadequate guidelines for nutrition and nutritional data for processed and fast foods,
Big Food: misinformation and propaganda regarding nutrition in schools, on TV, and elsewhere.

Posted by Elaine Vigneault | Filed Under Food, Health, big, calories, diet, excess, fat, nutrition
2 Comments to "Big Food Makes Big Americans"