Americans Eating More Processed Food Than Ever

 

Despite years of publicity decrying the health risks of a diet high in processed foods, the average American still gets 57% of their daily calories from industrially produced, ready-to-eat processed foods like snacks, canned food and frozen meals. Worse, that is an increase of 4 percentage points over 20 years ago. An increase in the amount of processed foods consumed by older adults accounted for most of the increase.

A study of over 40,000 people over 18 years and published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition concluded that Americans are eating more processed food than ever. "The overall composition of the average U.S. diet has shifted towards a more processed diet. This is concerning, as eating more ultra-processed foods is associated with poor diet quality and higher risk of several chronic diseases," said Filippa Juul, an assistant professor and postdoctoral fellow at NYU School of Public Health and the study's lead author. "The high and increasing consumption of ultra-processed foods in the 21^st century may be a key driver of the obesity epidemic."

Ultra-processed foods are industrially manufactured, ready-to-eat or heat, include additives, and are largely devoid of whole foods. Previous studies by researchers at NYU School of Global Public Health have found that higher consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with obesity and heart disease. People across nearly all demographic groups, regardless of income, increased their consumption of ultra-processed foods, with the exception of Hispanic adults, who ate significantly less ultra-processed foods and more whole foods compared with non-Hispanic white and Black adults. College graduates also ate significantly less ultra-processed foods.

It is pretty discouraging to realize that with all the media coverage of the negative health impact of processed foods that people are ignoring the science and eating more of it than ever. Probably the same people who are screaming loudest for publicly funded healthcare to pay for their care when the consequences of their bad choices manifest. Don't you be one of them.