Why People Were Thinner In 1970 Than They Are Today

The average American diet has changed drastically over the past 30 years - and not for the better. Today there are more snack foods and less nutritional value in everything we eat. No wonder so many Americans are overweight and there is a health crisis looming.

This change in eating has made way for a new industry - the diet industry.

To say that Americans are obsessed with dieting is an understatement! Pick up any magazine, tune-in or turn-on any source of advertising and you're bombarded with the latest diet schemes and food fads. More often than not, they are endorsed by some familiar Hollywood celebrity, or promoted using some other cleaver technique.

It's no mystery that the weight-loss industry has built a thriving empire. In America, for example, we spend about 35 billion dollars every year on an assortment of weight loss products and plans. In addition, we spend another 79 billion dollars for medication, hospitalization, and doctors to treat obesity-related problems. Even with this, the obesity epidemic continues to spread. Sadly, we have become the heaviest generation in our Nation's history.

The National Center for Health Statistics reports that we have some very good reasons to be concerned about our weight-gain. Americans, for example are packing-on the pounds faster than ever before and weight-related medical problems are taking center stage. Diseases like heart disease, diabetes and yes...even certain forms of cancer have all been linked to obesity.

Here are a few of the surprising statistics about our weight:

- A whopping 64 percent of U.S. adults are either overweight or obese. That's up approximately 8 percent from overweight estimates obtained in a 1988 report.

- The percent of children who are overweight is also continuing to increase. Among children and teens ages 6-19, 15 percent or almost 9 million are overweight. That's triple what the rate was in 1980!

- Nearly one-third of all adults are now classified as obese. At present, 31 percent of adults 20 years of age and over or nearly 59 million people have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater, compared with 23 percent in 1994.

(The BMI is a number that shows body weight adjusted for height. For adults, a BMI of 18.5 - 24.9 is considered normal. A BMI of 25.0 - 29.9 is overweight and 30.0 or above, is considered obese.)

We are a lot more sedentary than previous generations. We sit most of the day, in our cars, behind our computers, at the tv. There’s remote controls, escalators and elevators to keep us from having to get up or exert too much energy.

At times, life seems to have gotten almost too easy! For entertainment, we can now just sit-down, dial-up our favorite TV program or DVD movie and enjoy hours of uninterrupted entertainment...

And all those simple calorie burning activities that were once a normal part of our daily routine not so long ago? Long gone! You know the ones I'm talking about...activities like climbing stairs instead of using escalators and elevators. Or, pushing a lawn mower instead of riding around on a garden tractor. And what about that daily walk to school? Now, our kids complain when the school bus happens to be a few minutes late getting to the bus stop!

Along with all the conveniences of modern life, we are losing some of the things that caused us to burn a few calories through normal activity. Plus we are eating foods that are higher in calories and lower in vitamins, minerals and nutrients.

Here are a few examples of what we were eating in the 1970's compared to our diet today (information is taken from a recent U.S. Department of Agriculture survey):

- We are currently eating more grain products, but almost all of them are refined grains (white bread, etc.). Grain consumption has jumped 45 percent since the 1970s, from 138 pounds of grains per person per year to 200 pounds! Only 2 percent of the wheat flour is consumed as whole wheat.

- When looking at statistics, it would appear at first glance that our consumption of fruits and veggies has increased. But this is only because the U.S.D.A. includes French fries and potato chips as a vegetable!!! What??? Fries and chips have little nutritional value, trans fats that are bad for you, lots of fat and are high in calories. Potato products account for almost a third of our "produce" choices.

- We're drinking less milk, but we've more than doubled our cheese intake. Cheese now outranks meat as the number one source of saturated fat in our diets.

- We've cut back on red meat, but have more than made up for the loss by increasing our intake of chicken (battered and fried), so that overall, we're eating 13 pounds more meat today than we did back in the 1970s.

- We're drinking three times more carbonated soft drinks than milk, compared to the 1970's, when milk consumption was twice that of pop.

- We use 25 percent less butter, but pour twice as much vegetable oil on our food and salads, so our total added fat intake has increased 32 percent.

- Eating sugar is by far the worst problem today and the reason that so many Americans are overweight. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, people eat twice the amount of sugar the need. Since this sugar is in junk foods like soda, cakes and cookies, it is combined with fats and white flour for an added whammy.

- In 1978, the government found that sugars constituted only 11 percent of the average person's calories. Now, this number has ballooned to 16 percent for the average American adult and as much as 20 percent for American teenagers.

The days of the wholesome family dinners so near and dear to our hearts, where we all sat around the kitchen table to discuss events of the day, are now a part of our sentimental past. They have been replaced by our cravings for take-out and fast-food. We have gradually come to accept that it's "OK" to sacrifice healthy foods for the sake of convenience and that larger serving portions mean better value.

And, since I have been throwing-out statistics, here's one more: Americans are consuming about 300 more calories each day than we did twenty years ago. We should actually be eating less because of our decreased activity level, but instead are doing the opposite!

Decide TODAY that healthy eating and exercise habits will become a permanent part of your life!

Begin to explore your values and thoughts and other areas of your life where change may be required, and then take action. Begin slowly, but deliberately to make improvements in the areas you identify. And remember, it has taken a very long time to develop your habits, and it will take some time to undo them…so be patient!

Can You Blame Syndrome X On Yor Weight?
Are you putting on weight even though you aren’t eating more? Do you exercise like crazy but still can’t lose those pounds? No matter how little you eat, the scale doesn’t budge? You are not alone. There’s almost 4 million Americans that top the scales at 300 pounds or more and all the new diets and exercise equipment are not helping. So why are so many Americans overweight? One cause might be Syndrome X.

Cut The Junk Out Of Your Diet
These days, there’s a variety of diets you can choose from. Low carb, low fat, low calorie. Each has it’s own “list of foods” that are good and another list that is bad. But the main theme of all these diets is often misconstrued, and that is to cut out the non nutritional “junk” foods.

Figuring Out Food Labels For Better Dieting
Did you know that being able to read food labels can help you lose weight? It sure can, if you can compare the amount of carbs, calories and fat in the foods you buy than you can make smart choices about what you eat which can result in less calories going in and more weight coming off.

Low Carb Dieters - Make Sure You Are Getting Enough Of These Nutrients
Most diets are lacking essential nutrients, but low carb diets can have a real need for certain vitamins and minerals found in fruits and vegetables that may be lacking in this type of diet. Depending on yor personal low carb eating plan, you may need to supplement your diet with additional fiber, magnesium, potassium, calcium, and vitamins A, C and E.