Newsbites: American Eating Habits; Boredom & Unhealthy Eating; Nutrition Facts
Better-Off Americans Eating a Bit Better
Overall during this period, Americans reported eating almost half an additional serving a day of whole grains, a quarter of an extra serving of nuts and seeds, more whole fruits, and slightly more seafood than in 1999. Sugary drink consumption was down substantially by about half a serving per day. But, in contrast, there was no improvement in intakes of total fruits and vegetables, saturated fat, processed meats or sodium. Scoring intakes using a system developed by the American Heart Association, dietary quality rose by about 10%, from 19.0 points to 21.2 points out of a possible total of 50. An expanded scoring scale that includes nuts and seeds, legumes, shellfish, processed meat and saturated fats improved from 35.1 to 38.5 points out of 80. Americans are eating a little healthier than they were back in 1999, but the improvements are largest among upper-income households. “Almost twice as many Americans at low incomes have poor diets compared to those at the highest income level,” noted Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH, dean of Tufts’ Friedman School and senior author of a new study on trends in American diets. Published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the study used data from national nutrition surveys (NHANES) on nearly 34,000 adults covering 1999 to 2012.
But even these small gains were different by income, ethnicity and education levels. All income groups ate more whole grains, but only higher-income adults also cut their intake of refined-grain foods like white bread. Although sugary beverages decreased in all groups, higher-income Americans still drink fewer sugary beverages than low-income people. Those with higher incomes have doubled their intake of nuts and seeds, a trend absent at lower income levels. And while higher-income adults have added almost two daily servings of whole fruit since 1999, there was almost no change further down the economic ladder.
“The good news is that diets of Americans are slowly improving in many respects,” Dr. Mozaffarian commented. “The bad news is that we still have a long way to go, especially with respect to excess refined grains, starches, processed meats, and salt; and, perhaps worse, that the dietary divide between rich and poor is growing. These findings call for strong policies and programs to improve the food supply for all Americans.”
Boredom Fuels Unhealthy Eating
raving candy, chips and fast food? Maybe you’re just bored. Two studies presented at a meeting of the British Psychological Society support previous research linking boredom to unhealthy eating habits. In one, 45 participants watched either a dull or a funny video while being offered a variety of snacks; those viewing the uninteresting video gobbled much more salty and sugary snacks. In another experiment, the same researchers quizzed 52 volunteers on their food preferences before and after participants repeatedly copied a string of letters. After the repetitive chore, preferences for chips, sweets and fast food went up.
“These results are in line with previous research suggesting that we crave fatty and sugary foods when we are bored,” said lead investigator Sandi Mann, PhD, of the University of Central Lancashire. “This strengthens the theory that boredom is related to low levels of the stimulating brain chemical dopamine and that people try to boost this by eating fat and sugar if they cannot alleviate their boredom in some other way.”
Nutrition Facts Usage Half-Empty or Half-Full?
Half of US adults check the Nutrition Facts panel when deciding whether to buy a food product either “always” (16%) or “most of the time” (34%). In the 11th Health and Diet Survey conducted by the Food and Drug Administration, only 22% of respondents said they “rarely” (12%) or “never” (10%) consult nutrition labels. The most common reasons given for skipping nutrition information were “I buy what my family likes” and “I’m satisfied with my diet or health.”
The FDA recently finalized a long-awaited update to the Nutrition Facts label, which will be required on most products by mid-2018. (See the August newsletter.) The agency also proposed draft guidance to food manufacturers for reducing their products’ sodium content. In another question on the survey, 90% of respondents said they think they eat more salt than they should.
The post Newsbites: American Eating Habits; Boredom & Unhealthy Eating; Nutrition Facts appeared first on University Health News.
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