(CNN)After years of bad news about the obesity epidemic, which affects one-third of
Americans, things may finally be looking up. In the past 10 years the rates of obesity
appear to be leveling off among both childrenand adults.
The reason for the possible turn in the obesity tide appears to come down to what
experts always suspected it would: eating fewer calories. One recent study found
that the average adult went from consuming 2,220 calories a day in 2003 to 2,134
in 2010.
There are already hints of some of the other health payoffs of reducing calories. "In
addition to improvements in obesity, there is evidence that we have avoided vast
numbers of premature deaths," probably by reducing heart disease, diabetes and
other conditions, said Dr. Walter Willett, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
Even more encouraging is that Americans appear to be cutting calories in the
places they should. They are having fewer sugary drinks, and all but nixed trans
fats, even before the recent federal ban.
Related: FDA orders food manufacturers to stop using trans fat within three years
Yet, Americans still have a long way to go in how they divvy up calories to get their
plates to look more like My Plate, the Department of Agriculture's guideline for healthy
eating.
"There has not been a big enough change in sugar-sweetened beverages and refined
carbohydrates and fast foods, and there has not been an increase in the healthy
foods," said Barry Popkin, distinguished professor of global nutrition at the University of
North Carolina. "We have slightly cut our calories [but] we still consume over half our
calories from the wrong foods," he said.
Experts hope, however, that the small improvements in recent years are just the
beginning of a calorie-swapping trend. "I think we are seeing a cultural change like we
have with smoking," Willett said. "I think we reached a tipping point that will accelerate
the decrease in sugary drinks," and also lead to an increase in the consumption of
healthy foods, he added.
Americans in almost every age and ethnic group have been weaning themselves off
soda and fruit drinks. A study of nationwide diet surveys found that children and adults
consumed an average of about 155 and 151 calories, respectively, from these drinks in
2010, down from 223 and 196 calories in 1999. Both at home and when eating out,
during meals and at snack time, they reported passing on these beverages.
In most cases, Americans are substituting soda for healthier choices. "As [sugarsweetened] beverages have been going down, water is zooming right up, and that is
split between tap water and bottled water," about 60-40, said Adam Drewnowski,
director of the Center for Public Health Nutrition at the University of Washington School
of Public Health. "That's a good thing," he added.
Although consumption of energy drinks and sweetened teas and coffees rose between
1999 and 2010, these drinks made up a small percentage of calories that Americans
get from sugary drinks.
All this is good news, but it is not enough. "We are getting a little closer on sugary
beverages, but not anywhere close to where we need to get," Popkin said. Most (60%)
of Americans still consume 230 calories or more a day of added sugar, he added.
The new advisory Dietary Guidelines by the Department of Health and Human
Services and Department of Agriculture recommend that people get no more than 10%
of their daily calories (about 200 calories) from added sugar.
The drop in trans fats "was mostly due to changes in the manufacturing process, not
that people were really changing what they were eating," Willett said. Even before
policies were in place to limit trans fats, and the FDA banned them, many
manufacturers voluntarily started phasing them out, he added.
Instead of trans fats, a lot of food manufacturers now use vegetable oil, and dietary
surveys reflect a rise in the consumption of these unsaturated fats along with the drop
in trans fats, Willett said. Although vegetable oil is not necessarily lower in calories
than trans fats, studies suggest this type of unsaturated fat could have health benefits
whereas trans fats have been associated with higher rates of heart disease, diabetes
and other conditions.
food. However, as Drewnowski pointed out, it does not matter that much where fast
food calories are coming from. Pizza is high in salt, but "sandwiches are also
sometimes loaded with sodium because of all the processed meats and cheeses," he
said.