12/02/2005

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Chow Line: Americans piling on the plates, pounds (for 12/11/05)

Writer:

Martha Filipic
filipic.3@osu.edu
614-292-9833

Source:

Sharron Coplin

Americans piling on plates, pounds

I just returned from an extended stay in Europe, and I'm surprised at how fat Americans seem compared to European counterparts. Why is this?

Actually, obesity rates have been rising in both Europe and the Americas for a decade or more. In fact, according to the American Obesity Association, the prevalence of obesity has increased by between 10 percent to 40 percent in most European countries in the last 10 years.

This is true in almost any developed region: As modern conveniences increase, so does a population's weight. The more people drive cars, sit at a computer, watch television, use elevators and modern appliances, the less physical activity they naturally do in a day. Less physical activity usually means more pounds around the middle.

When you traveled, you may have been in areas where it's more convenient to walk or bike between destinations -- that could help explain the weight difference you describe. But what you're seeing here at home can't be explained by a lack of physical activity alone.

In fact, an article in a recent issue of Amber Waves, a publication of the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, notes that Americans are simply eating more food than we used to.

Between 1970 and 2003, the total amount of food available for each person increased 16 percent, from 1,675 pounds to 1,950 pounds. The increase in available food, the analysts said, resulted in a corresponding jump in calories, from 2,234 calories per person per day in 1970 to 2,757 calories in 2003. That's more than a 500-calorie-a-day difference. Since it takes only 3,500 calories (over and above what the body uses for energy) to gain a pound, it's easy to see why overweight and obesity rates are so high.

According to the "MyPyramid" Dietary Food Guidelines, consuming more than 2,700 calories a day is recommended only for moderately active males between the ages of 16 and 25 or very active males up to age 55 -- they have the metabolism that can handle that amount of food. For the rest of us, calorie consumption recommendations for adults go as low as 1,600 for sedentary adult women. For more information and healthy eating guidelines, see the MyPyramid Web site at http://mypyramid.gov.

Chow Line is a service of Ohio State University Extension and the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. Send questions to Chow Line, c/o Martha Filipic, 2021 Coffey Road, Columbus, OH 43210-1044, or filipic.3@osu.edu.

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Editor: This column was reviewed by Sharron Coplin, registered dietitian and nutrition associate for Ohio State University Extension in the College of Human Ecology.