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Better U.S. Diets Mean Everyone Eats More Like the Poor | |
By DANIEL Q. HANEY BOSTON - Affluent Americans are eating more like poor people. And that's actually a good thing. A major new review of U.S. eating habits shows a wholesale shift away from high-fat foods over the past 30 years. While this is hardly a surprise, the report shows that the change has meant a healthier diet for everyone - but especially the affluent, who needed to change the most. Contrary to what many would assume, the study found that in 1965, poor blacks ate far better than well-off whites. Their diets included more grains and beans and less fat. While differing tastes probably played a role, one reason was economic: Unlike the wealthy, the poor then simply could not afford to fill up on luxury foods like red meat and butter - things that people now know should be eaten in moderation. Overall, the researchers saw a 5 percent drop in fat consumption since the 1960s. Everyone's diet has changed, including poor blacks, who are eating less whole milk, red meat and bacon than ever before. However, the shift has affected them less than it has well-off whites or, for that matter, affluent blacks. "Low-income blacks have always had a much better diet, so the changes have been less," said Dr. Anna Marie Siega-Riz, one of the researchers. The study, directed by Dr. Barry M. Popkin of the University of North Carolina, was published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine. Popkin said contrary to what some people believe, poor people don't stuff themselves with snack foods more than other people do. And higher obesity rates among low-income people can be blamed on declines in physical activity rather than diet, he said. The work, financed in part by Kellogg Corp., was based on a review of U.S. Department of Agriculture surveys of 32,000 Americans between 1965 and 1991. People's diets were rated on a scale from zero to 16. The lower the number, the better the food. A healthy diet was considered to be a score of four or less. In 1965, 16 percent of poor blacks scored below four, as did 9 percent of poor whites and 5 percent of well-off whites. By 1991, 24 percent of poor blacks scored in this healthy category. So did 20 percent of poor whites and 20 percent of wealthy whites. "The dietary trends in Americans have been driven mainly by fat," Popkin said. "Everybody has decreased their fat intake." While few well-off blacks were counted in the early surveys, in later years the surveys showed that their diets are more like wealthy whites than poor blacks. Health experts recommend that people eat plenty of grains and beans, and here the news is not entirely good. The study found that while affluent whites have increased their intake of these foods from four to five servings a day, consumption has actually fallen among poor blacks - from six a day to five. In an editorial in the journal, Dr. Shiriki Kumanyika of the University of Illinois at Chicago noted that despite the changes, three-quarters of Americans continue to have less-than-ideal diets. "As a society, clearly, we still have a long way to go," he wrote. Copyright 1996 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | |