Dietary Treatment for Overweight and Obesity - Americans' Diets

Data from the 1999–2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) revealed that Americans' actual eating habits were at odds with all of these recommended diets. Although total calorie consumption was not excessively high for moderately active persons seeking to maintain their weight—for men the average calorie consumption was 2,475 and for women, 1,833—the distribution and balance of these calories was not even consistent with USDA recommendations for standard daily consumption for those not attempting to diet. Americans derived about 33 percent of their calories from fat, approximately 15 percent from protein, and more than half (52 percent) of their calories from carbohydrates. (See Table 5.2 and Figure 5.2.) Americans were not "in the zone," nor were they eating low-fat, high-protein, or low-carbohydrate diets.

About 11 percent of Americans' daily calories were derived from saturated fat—too much according to 2000 U.S. Dietary Guidelines calling for less than 10 percent of daily calorie intake from saturated fat. (See Figure 5.3.) On average, males consumed more than the recommended limit of 300 mg per day of cholesterol while females consumed just 225 mg per day. (See Figure 5.4.) Figure 5.5 shows that the average daily salt consumption for all age groups over six years of age was well above the upper limit of 2,400 mg of sodium per day recommended by the National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure.

TABLE 5.2
Dietary intake of ten key nutrients for public health by sex and age, 1999–2000

	Both sexes			Male			Female
Nutrient and age	Sample size	Mean	Median	Sample size	Mean	Median	Sample size	Mean	Median
Energy (kcal):
All ages1	8,604	2,146	1,964	4,206	2,475	2,281	4,398	1,833	1,711
Less than 6 years1	1,195	1,480	1,411	628	1,559	1,522	567	1,393	1,333
6–11 years	962	2,025	1,881	494	2,151	1,962	468	1,889	1,757
12–19 years	2,208	2,342	2,129	1,105	2,686	2,475	1,103	1,993	1,881
20–39 years	1,484	2,419	2,227	635	2,825	2,642	849	2,028	1,854
40–59 years	1,218	2,196	2,073	577	2,590	2,475	641	1,828	1,695
60 years and over	1,537	1,772	1,658	767	2,069	2,017	770	1,534	1,485
Percent of calories from protein2
All ages1	8,600	14.7	14.1	4,203	14.9	14.1	4,397	14.6	14.0
Less than 6 years1	1,195	13.2	12.9	628	13.2	13.1	567	13.1	12.5
6–11 years	961	13.2	12.7	493	13.0	12.7	468	13.4	12.8
12–19 years	2,207	13.7	13.1	1,104	13.9	13.4	1,103	13.4	12.8
20–39 years	1,483	14.7	13.9	634	14.9	14.0	849	14.6	13.8
40–59 years	1,218	15.5	14.9	577	15.8	15.1	641	15.2	14.7
60 years and over	1,536	16.0	15.6	767	16.1	15.6	769	16.0	15.4
Percent of calories from carbohydrate.2
All ages1	8,600	51.9	52.2	4,203	50.9	50.9	4,397	52.8	53.4
Less than 6 years1	1,195	55.4	55.4	628	55.2	55.2	567	55.5	56.2
6–11 years	961	55.2	55.4	493	55.2	55.2	468	55.1	55.4
12–19 years	2,207	54.8	54.9	1,104	54.2	54.3	1,103	55.5	55.6
20–39 years	1,483	51.3	51.1	634	50.0	49.6	849	52.6	53.1
40–59 years	1,218	49.2	48.8	577	47.5	47.5	641	50.9	51.0
60 years and over	1,536	51.1	51.3	767	50.1	50.5	769	52.0	52.2
Percent of calories from total fat2
All ages1	8,600	32.7	32.7	4,203	32.7	32.8	4,397	32.6	32.6
Less than 6 years1	1,195	32.9	33.0	628	32.9	33.3	567	32.8	32.8
6–11 years	961	32.9	32.8	493	33.0	32.6	468	32.8	33.2
12–19 years	2,207	32.0	32.1	1,104	32.0	32.1	1,103	32.1	32.1
20–39 years	1,483	32.2	32.2	634	32.1	32.3	849	32.3	32.1
40–59 years	1,218	33.3	33.3	577	33.4	33.3	641	33.1	33.2
60 years and over	1,536	32.8	32.9	767	32.9	33.0	769	32.8	32.8
Percent of calories from saturated fat2
All ages1	8,600	11.2	11.0	4,203	11.2	11.1	4,397	11.1	10.9
Less than 6 years1	1,195	12.7	12.5	628	12.8	12.8	567	12.6	12.3
6–11 years	961	11.7	11.6	493	11.6	11.5	468	11.8	11.6
12–19 years	2,207	11.3	11.3	1,104	11.5	11.5	1,103	11.0	10.9
20–39 years	1,483	10.9	10.8	634	10.8	10.9	849	10.9	10.8
40–59 years	1,218	11.1	10.8	577	11.1	10.8	641	11.1	10.8
60 years and over	1,536	10.7	10.4	767	10.8	10.6	769	10.6	10.3
Cholesterol (mg):
All ages1	8,604	265	201	4,206	307	233	4,398	225	170
Less than 6 years1	1,195	162	127	628	174	136	567	149	118
6–11 years	962	212	180	494	218	182	468	205	179
12–19 years	2,208	250	192	1,105	296	225	1,103	203	162
20–39 years	1,484	294	228	635	350	269	849	241	185
40–59 years	1,218	295	229	577	353	278	641	541	182
60 years and over	1,537	253	185	767	282	210	770	229	164
Calcium (mg):
All ages1	8,604	863	735	4,206	966	832	4,398	765	657
Less than 6 years1	1,195	853	768	628	916	809	567	785	708
6–11 years	962	889	821	494	915	843	468	860	812
12–19 years	2,208	938	787	1,105	1,081	956	1,103	793	661
20–39 years	1,484	909	762	635	1,025	856	849	797	684
40–59 years	1,218	853	720	577	969	834	641	744	621
60 years and over	1,537	721	619	767	797	716	770	660	563
Folate (mcg):
All ages1	8.604	361	314	4,206	405	356	4,398	319	280
Less than 6 years1	1,195	255	231	628	267	242	567	243	219
6–11 years	962	339	304	494	364	324	468	312	284
12–19 years	2,208	372	323	1,105	421	363	1,103	323	285
20–39 years	1,484	380	329	635	435	378	849	327	291
40–59 years	1,218	381	338	577	431	394	641	335	291
60 years and over	1,537	346	309	767	387	351	770	312	275

TABLE 5.2
Dietary intake of ten key nutrients for public health by sex and age, 1999–2000

	Both sexes			Male			Female
Nutrient and age	Sample size	Mean	Median	Sample size	Mean	Median	Sample size	Mean	Median
Iron (mg):
All ages1	8,604	15.2	13.0	4,206	17.2	15.1	4,398	13.4	11.4
Less than 6 years1	1,195	12.9	11.0	628	13.6	12.2	567	12.1	10.7
6–11 years	962	14.4	12.5	494	15.3	13.1	468	13.3	11.5
12–19 years	2,208	15.9	13.7	1,105	18.3	16.4	1,103	13.4	11.7
20–39 years	1,484	15.8	13.4	635	17.9	15.7	849	13.7	11.7
40–59 years	1,218	15.5	13.7	577	17.6	15.9	641	13.6	11.6
60 years and over	1,537	14.8	12.2	767	17.3	14.3	770	12.8	10.8
Zinc (mg):
All ages1	8,604	11.4	9.7	4,206	13.3	11.5	4,398	9.7	8.2
Less than 6 years1	1,195	8.1	7.3	628	8.4	7.6	567	7.7	7.0
6–11 years	962	10.6	9.1	494	11.0	9.5	468	10.0	8.8
12–19 years	2,208	11.9	10.3	1,105	14.3	12.3	1,103	9.6	8.4
20–39 years	1,484	12.4	10.4	635	14.8	12.7	849	10.1	8.5
40–59 years	1,218	11.9	10.5	577	13.9	12.8	641	10.1	8.4
60 years and over	1,537	10.6	8.6	767	12.2	10.6	770	9.3	7.4
Sodium (mg):
All ages1	8,604	3,375	3,017	4,206	3,877	3,510	4,398	2,896	2,644
Less than 6 years1	1,195	2,114	2,045	628	2,223	2,206	567	1,995	1,944
6–11 years	962	3,255	2,971	494	3,500	3,141	468	2,993	2,783
12–19 years	2,208	3,586	3,120	1,105	4,124	3,645	1,103	3,041	2,737
20–39 years	1,484	3,735	3,385	635	4,329	4,028	849	3,161	2,871
40–59 years	1,218	3,535	3,268	577	4,132	3,706	641	2,978	2,809
60 years and over	1,537	2,940	2,660	767	3,447	3,250	770	2,532	2,333
1Excludes nursing infants and children.
2Although four persons were fasting, their data were included in all computations except percent of calories from protein, carbohydrate, total fat, and saturated fat.
SOURCE: Adapted from Jaqueline Wright, Chia-Yih Wang, Jocelyn Kennedy-Stephenson, and R. Bethine Ervin, "Table 1. Dietary Intake of Ten Key Nutrients for Public Health by Sex and Age: United States, 1999–2000," in Advance Data from Vital and Health Statistics, No. 334, Centers for Disease Prevention and Promotion, National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, MD, April 17, 2003 [Online] http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad334.pdf [accessed January 18, 2004]