U.S. Obesity Guidelines for Americans

  Look around you: Americans are among the fattest people on earth, fatter than any group of people before us. People judged overweight or obese in 1960 would now be viewed as thin. Obesity has achieved such a level of severity that we need a new category of “super-obese” with body mass indexes (BMIs) of 45 or higher (compared to the longstanding BMI of 22 in preceding populations, 20-21 in hunter gatherer populations). Agencies in the business of providing dietary advice, such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and the American Diabetes Association, attribute this trend to laziness and inactivity, overeating, calories in exceeding calories out. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans leave no doubt about the severity of this societal problem and their stand on the solution: “About half of all American adults have one or more preventable, diet-related chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and overweight and obesity. . . More than two-thirds of adults and nearly one-third of children and youth are overweight or obese.” Eat a hamburger and the Guidelines will persuade you that the problem is the cholesterol, saturated fat, and sodium in the hamburger. Have some pepperoni pizza and the Guidelines tell you that it’s the fatty cheese and pepperoni that is the source of health problems. They say cut back on th...
Source: Wheat Belly Blog - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Wheat Belly Lifestyle Fat gluten grains low-carb obesity u.s. dietary guidelines Weight Loss Source Type: blogs