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A little good news on the nutrition front: Americans are more aware of the health benefits of specific foods than they were a decade ago, according to a survey released yesterday by the International Food Information Council, with nine out of 10 able to name a food and its related health benefit (up from about three-quarters of those surveyed in 1998). But it also seems we’re becoming increasingly delusional about our health and diets, too.
IFIC’s 2011 Food & Health Survey, which polled a representative sample of 1,000 American adults, found 62% of people perceive their diet as extremely or somewhat healthful, up nearly 10% from last year. Fewer Americans report making dietary changes and more report that their physical activity levels are sedentary (43%, up from 37% in 2010). The disparity observed between American’s perception of their weight and their calculated BMI continues (one in five Americans with a BMI in the overweight range consider themselves as “ideal” or “underweight”). And only nine percent of Americans can accurately estimate the number of calories they should consume in a day for a person of their age, height, weight, and physical activity.
We remain confused about good and bad fats, also; while 71% said they are trying to limit some type of fat, 20% of these said this included polyunsasturated and monounsaturated fats (the kind found in things like avocados and olive oil). And despite increasing evidence that certain foods are unhealthy even in small quantities, 63% of respondents said they would rather hear *what* to eat than what not to eat. We may have come a long way—but we’ve still got a long way to go.
