the standard american diet
& our health

• Each year the average American consumes:
  • 111 lbs. red meat
  • 150 lbs. wheat (mostly refined flour)
  • 39 gallons of alcohol
  • 580 lbs. dairy products
  • 53 gallons of soft drinks
  • 154 lbs. sugar
  • 29 lbs. ice cream
  • 24 gallons of coffee
• Americans consume 53 teaspoons of caloric sweeteners per day, the equivalent of a 5 pound bag of sugar every week and half - 75% more than in 1909. In Europe and North America, fat and sugar count for more than half of all caloric intake.
   
• The National Cancer Institute recommends 5 servings per day of fruits and vegetables, but only 9% of the population, and only 20% of "gatekeeper" family physicians say they consume the daily 5 servings.
   
• 70% of the food produced in America is processed or refined. 90% of food budget dollars in America are spent on processed, packaged foods.
   
• The National Cancer Institute spends approximately $1 million a year promoting the '5 servings of fruit and vegetables a day' for better health campaign, while Kellogg's spent $34 million promoting Frosted Flakes alone. McDonald's annual advertising budget is $1 billion, Coca-Cola's is $770 million, and General Mills is $598 million.
   
• 64.5% of adults in America are overweight - the highest percentage of any country in the world. Of those, 27% are classified as obese.
   
• In addition to a significantly higher risk for many chronic diseases, overweight people have a 45% higher risk of developing many cancers.
   
• Cardiovascular diseases account for more than 40% of all deaths in the United States.
   
• Between 1990-1998 there was a 70% increase in adult diabetes for people between the ages of 30-39 and a 33% increase for the population overall.
   
• Obesity is associated with 300,000 deaths each year, soon to overtake tobacco use as the leading cause of death.
   
• In 1988, former Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop stated that the American diet was the cause of approximately two-thirds of all deaths due to disease
  in America.