Cut the Fat, Bring on the Vegetables

Americans are eating too much salt, way too much fat, and not nearly enough vegetables, according to new health guidelines released today. The Wall Street Journal's Katherine Hobson reports:

Given the extent of our national fatitude, the report emphasizes "a total diet that is energy balanced." That means that the calories you take in shouldn't exceed what you burn off. And the diet should be "nutrient dense," since many of us miss out on key nutrients because we're too busy putting away foods heavy in added sugars and solid fats. We also eat too much sodium and too many refined grains, the report says, and not enough vegetables, fruits, high-fiber whole grains, low-fat milk products and seafood.

It's nothing new that Americans should cut down on fat and increase their intake of vegetables, but the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, a 13-member panel of scientists and nutritionists, still repeated these suggestions in its Dietary Guidelines for All Americans. The committee, appointed by the Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services, releases new guidelines every five years. The government then looks to these guidelines to make an official statement about what constitutes a healthy diet.

This report, although nothing drastically different from health advice that has been offered before, is something that needs to be examined.  With the same information being fed to the public again and again, why are obesity rates in the United States not going down? Is the recession playing too large a role in what people choose to eat or are forced to eat?

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