An increasingly detailed picture of contemporary dietary patterns and preferences is emerging, and it isn’t pretty. Now, researchers say average North Americans get almost half of their daily carbs from ‘junk’ foods…
Monster multi-Patty Burgers smothered in multiple Sauces may
be among the worst offenders in the junk Carbs community…
There’s been a flood of data mining-based studies from major medical schools and research facilities lately and, for the most part, their findings haven’t been encouraging. Now, a team from Tufts University has come up with what it calls an 18-year Report Card on American eating habits. Though there was some marginally good news, researchers were alarmed about the levels of low-quality ‘junk’ Carbohydrates and Fats folks are consuming.
What they did
The study examined the diets of 43,996 adults using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Participants completed at least one valid 24-hour dietary recall survey from each of nine consecutive cycles of the NHANES (1999 to 2016). Researchers used the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Database for Dietary Studies (FNDDS) to estimate nutrient intake. To assess overall diet quality, the researchers used the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015, which measures adherence to the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
What they found
The study found that low-quality carbohydrates from refined grains, starchy vegetables, and added sugars accounted for 42 percent of the typical American’s daily calorie intake. High-quality carbs, from whole Grains and fresh, whole fruits, accounted for only 9 percent.
“For example, most of the proteins that Americans consumed were from Meats – including red and Processed Meat. Proteins consumed from Seafood and healthy plant sources, such as Whole Grains, Nuts, and Legumes, remained a much smaller proportion,” Study Co-senior Author Dr. Shilpa Bhupathiraju said.
The takeaway
Study Co-senior Author Dr. Fang Fang Zhang said. “These findings also highlight the need for interventions to reduce socioeconomic differences in diet quality, so that all Americans can experience the health benefits of an improved diet.”
“Our research suggests that Americans have an opportunity to diversify their sources of Protein to include more Seafood, Beans, Soy products, Nuts and Seeds,” Bhupathiraju added.
My take
Okay. That all makes sense to me. But I, too, was shocked by how many ‘junk’ Calories the average American (and, by association, Canadian and European) chooses to consume every day.
In line with that observation, I must reiterate my comments from several previous posts that the cost of better-quality foods (fresh Produce, Fish and Seafood, etc.) (see picture, top of page) remain prohibitive for many folks on fixed or low incomes, including seniors. So, I was not surprised to find that the most heavily effected demographic groups looked at by researchers were the poor, seniors and those with lower education achievement levels.
Overall, my take is, it will take more than mere convincing to change folks’ dietary habits to make a real dent in the ‘junk’ Carbs problem. Government must act and the price of healthier foods must come down.
~ Maggie J.