American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 7, 508-513, Copyright © 1959 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Some Comments on the American Diet and Household Consumption Data

¹ Scientific Director, The National Vitamin Foundation, New York, New York

The U. S. Department of Agriculture report on household food consumption in 1955¹ indicates that the average American household is consuming more than a sufficient amount of all nutrients studied to assure its members an adequate diet. However, since the supply of other essential nutrients is associated with a gross excess of calories, at least one-third more than actually is eaten per "nutrition unit," and since, in fact, calorie discard is not accomplished in the home without an appreciable discard of other nutrients, it cannot be concluded from the U. S. Department of Agriculture report that household food consumption in the United States is such as to preclude the possibility of a high incidence of dietary inadequacies. Nor can it be argued that educational programs designed to increase the consumption of particular foodstuffs are the answer to whatever dietary problems may exist. The calorie requirements of the average American adult probably are at an all-time low, and are not likely to increase in normal times. As the U. S. Department of Agriculture report amply demonstrates, it is not at all difficult to persuade the consumer to purchase more food than he needs; however, this is quite a different matter from getting him to eat more calories than he requires or is accustomed to eating. Any nutritionist attempting to design a succesful public health nutrition program must take cognizance of the fact that the addition of certain foods to the diet must be accompanied by the subtraction of an equivalent number of calories in the form of other foods. As pointed out by Leverton et al.,⁸ "Actually the need is often for decreasing the energy value [of the diet] and increasing nutritive values."

Consumer purchasing power and educational level remain, as they always have been, important determinants of the incidence and distribution of dietary inadequacies in the United States.

Dietary inadequacies do exist and are common in the United States where there is a plethora of food and where obesity is considered to be a public health problem of the first order. They are particularly prevalent and serious among adolescent girls and young women. This problem cannot be solved simply by encouraging an increased consumption of food.