Beverages: Americans Double Their Calorie Intake In Two Decades

Note from Connie: Another important study with horrifying findings emerges from renowned nuritionist Dr. Barry Popkin at the University of North Carolina. The acclaimed Dr. Popkin, who I interviewed for my bookSUGAR SHOCK!, worked with a doctoral student to analyze Americans' beverage consumption patterns.Here's Karen's summary of the study.

U.S. adults consume twice as many calories from beverages than they did in 1965, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health.

Barry M. Popkin, Ph.D., professor of nutrition and a fellow at the Carolina Population Center and doctoral candidate Kiyah J. Duffey analyzed the beverage consumption patterns of nearly 47,000 U.S. adults aged 19 and older between the years 1965 and 2002, according to a UNC press release.

The team’s study appears in the November issue of Obesity Research, which isn't available yet online.

Among the findings:

• In 1965 beverages accounted for 12 percent of U.S. adults average daily energy intake. By 2002 that number had risen to 21 percent, or an additional 222 calories.

• The additional calories received from beverages are not commensurate with a reduction in food.

• Between 1989 and 2002, water intake stayed about same, while the average adult drank an extra 21 ounces of other beverages daily.

• While five beverages dominated consumption patterns in 1977, that number rose to eight by 2002 to include fruit and vegetable juices and diet soda.

"This has considerable implications for numerous health outcomes, including obesity and diabetes as this is just adding several hundred calories daily to our overall caloric intake," Popkin said in the release.

Karen James for SUGAR SHOCK! Blog