By Richard Tardif
Are we eating more than two decades ago? Three? Four? According to some long-term research we’re not eating more calories than decades ago yet we are heavier, and that’s hard to believe. If this is the case, to lose weight today, we have to eat less and burn more calories than our parents did. One study analyzing trends in caloric intake and physical activity demonstrated that over a 22-year period (1988 to 2010) Americans 18 and older showed increase rates of belly fat yet calorie intake “did not change substantially”. Published in The American Journal of Medicine, Uri Ladabaum, M.D., of Stanford University wrote: “Our findings do not support the popular notion that the increase in obesity in the United States can be attributed primarily to an increase over time in the average daily caloric intake of Americans.”
Women ages 18 to 39 reported eating 68 fewer calories per day in 2010 compared with 1988, but the percentage of that population who were overweight increased by more than 20 percent, while those who were obese soared by 56 percent. I thought we were eating more? There is more evidence.
A 2014 study published in the British Journal of Nutrition assessed 2,732 individuals over a 17-year period, and found their daily calories in had increased by just 10 calories. The journal Obesity Research & Clinical Practice in 2015 reported that the dietary data of 36,400 North Americans between 1971 and 2008, and the physical activity data of 14,419 people between 1988 and 2006, and concluded it’s harder for adults today to maintain the same weight as those 20 to 30 years ago, even at the same levels of food intake and exercise.
And we take part in less activity than we did 20 years ago. We sit at work, sit at home watching TV and physical activity is, for most but not all on weekends, compared to the old order Amish of Ontario, Canada, on the other hand leading a low technology, high physical activity lifestyle which may explain a low obesity rate of four percent.
David R. Bassett in 2004, a professor of exercise science at the University of Tennessee, gave pedometers to 98 Amish adults and found that the men averaged 18,000 steps per day, the women 14,000. Bassett reported that the Amish eat pancakes, ham, cake, and milk, foods not considered by modern society as healthy. They also eat large amounts of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Between 2007 to 2010, about 11.3 percent of daily calories came from fast food, down from 12.8 percent reported between 2003 to 2006, according to data collected by the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention. So what’s going on?
We eat less fast food according to the above study yet there is no decline in obesity rates. Other reports suggest that overuse of prescription drugs, a 24/7 lifestyle, exposure to toxic environments and eating processed foods have serious affects on our weight and health. In this case, based on reports, the numbers suggest overeating and inactivity may not adequately explain weight gain.
