Tuesday, October 18, 2011

The State of American Nutrition


Got your attention? Tsk, Tsk! Need some motivation to eat Clean? Think on these factoids...

1. Americans eat more than 500 million Twinkies per year. Chicago is the Twinkie capital of the world, gobbling down 27 million Twinkies annually. There is no fiber in a Twinkie.

2. Americans drink an average of 800 8 ounce servings of soft drinks each year. There is almost 1/4 cup of sugar in a can of cola.

3. 34% of Americans are obese, with 33% more being "overweight" and only 33% being of normal reasonable weight. Only 5% of persons age 12 to 19 were obese in 1976. Today, it is 18%.

4. In the 1800's, the average American consumed only 10 lbs of sugar per year. In 2011, the average is 158 lbs.

5. The US is the fattest country in the world. Mexico is second, the U.K is third.

6. Obesity can shorten your life span by an average of 10 years. In 2000, obesity accounted for 400,000 American deaths annually, up from 300,000 in 1990.

7. Obesity will soon surpass tobacco as the leading cause of death in America.

8. American health care expenditures totaled $2.4 trillion in 2007, equal to 17% of the gross domestic product ( GDP ), rising at twice the rate of inflation.

9. The number of children who took pills for type 2 diabetes more than doubled from 2002 to 2005. Type 2 diabetes is closely linked with obesity.

10. Texas is the least healthy state, with Tennessee and South Carolina not far behind. Vermont is the healthiest state, with Hawaii and New Hampshire following.

Info from http://fullplatedietbeta.org/