Fatter Americans
Meant to post on this from Marginal Revolution last week, but devclue beat me to it. Interesting stuff anyway, lots of good discussion in the comments.
For my own part, I've pretty much eliminated the mid-meal snack. (Yes, I can get pretty smug about it too.) I also try to take more time at meals - - or at least think about what I'm eating - enjoy it. Result, pounds seem to be dropping. I don't own a scale so only time I "weigh in" is when visiting my Mom, or taking kids to swimming lessons (locker room scale), but none of my pants fit well. My belt - the cool new one I wear most often - has no more loops to tighten. This all makes me feel good (did I mention smug?), but I wonder if it will make one bit of difference with the damn cholesterol??
Americans are not consuming more carbohydrates and trans fats because McDonald's is super sizing our dinners. Nor is our diet changing because Uncle Sam is subsidizing corn. Rather, Americans are eating poorly because of a much more fundamental change in how we eat, specifically, the rise of snacking. In fact, the amount we eat and drink between meals accounts for nearly all the growth in our consumption of carbohydrates and fats over the past thirty years. Perhaps the biggest source of America's recent weight gain and sugary diet is not so much the value "meal" but the simple snack.
For my own part, I've pretty much eliminated the mid-meal snack. (Yes, I can get pretty smug about it too.) I also try to take more time at meals - - or at least think about what I'm eating - enjoy it. Result, pounds seem to be dropping. I don't own a scale so only time I "weigh in" is when visiting my Mom, or taking kids to swimming lessons (locker room scale), but none of my pants fit well. My belt - the cool new one I wear most often - has no more loops to tighten. This all makes me feel good (did I mention smug?), but I wonder if it will make one bit of difference with the damn cholesterol??
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