Study: New “Report Card” Out On America’s Diet, Improvement Still Needed

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WASHINGTON – Americans are doing a better job of cutting out carbs and sugar, but there’s still plenty of work to do.

According to a new ‘report card’ on the American Diet, consumption of highly-processed foods with added sugars dropped three percent since 1999.

Researchers analyzed the eating habits of 44,000 adults between the years of 1999 and 2016.





They believe these positive trends reflect increased public awareness of the health risks associated with added sugars and low grain consumption.

But, they say people are still eating too much of what’s not healthy.

Of the typical American’s daily calories, nearly half comes from refined grains, starchy vegetables and added sugars.





















Worse, intake of saturated fat exceeds 10 percent. They say this is due to high consumption of meat, especially red and processed meats, which are strongly linked to heart disease and cancer.

Only nine percent of daily calories come from whole grains and fruits.

The findings were even worse for adults over age 50, minorities and undereducated and low-income populations.

Researchers say the study offers insight into where people can improve our diets and which subgroups to target to eliminate disparities in healthy eating.









 

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