Has intake of fat truly decreased in the United

States during the last decades?

Data from NHANES studies and U.S. Department of Agriculture

(USDA)Registered dietitian, M.Sc, MBA

Reijo Laatikainen

www.pronutritionist.net www.twitter.com/pronutritionist

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NHANES studies 1971-2010

Absolute intake in grams.

Data is based on self-reports which usually underestimate real intake

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Intake of fat, carbohydrates and protein (grams/day/person)NHANES

Ford ES, Dietz WH. Trends in energy intake among adults in the United States: findings from NHANES. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Apr;97(4):848-53.

Data from USDA (1971-2006)

Absolute availability per person in grams.

Data is based on balance sheets (food availability) which may overestimate

consumption of all macronutrients due to incomplete correction of food waste

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19711973

19751977

19791981

19831985

19871989

19911993

19951997

19992001

20032005

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Fat, protein and carbohydrate availability in US (grams/day/person)

USDA

gram

s per

cap

tia/d

ay

Carbohydrates

Total fat

Source: USDA, http://www.ers.usda.gov/

Protein

Is there any data that supported the notion of decreased fat intake

in US?

Yes. Only data that supports this notion is data that is presented as percentage of total energy intake (E%). But this is misleading because the increased intake of carbohydrates over the time, and thus increased intake of total calories, drives

the percentage of fat calories down.

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NHANES studies 1971-2010

Percentage of energy intake

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Intake of fat, carbohydrates and protein (percentage of energy intake/day/person)

NHANES

Ford ES, Dietz WH. Trends in energy intake among adults in the United States: findings from NHANES. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Apr;97(4):848-53.

Conclusion • There is no decrease in fat intake in US population during the past

four decades.

• Intake of carbohydrates has increased and intake protein has remained rather stable during the same time period. Therefore the percentage of total calories from fat has decreased.

• US population has not followed low fat diet but has only increased carbohydrate intake.

• It’s misleading to claim that US population had followed low fat diet as it was described in dietary guidelines in 1980s.

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Wellcome aboard!

http://twitter.com/pronutritionisthttp://www.facebook.com/pronutritionist

http://www.pronutritionist.net

Reijo Laatikainen, RD, MBA

Images bought and licensed from BigStockPhoto. Snapshots from papers and sites refered to.

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