Americans eat an extra meal every day — just by snacking too much
December 15, 20232 comments
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A concerning new study reveals American adults are adding an “extra” meal to their plates every day — simply by snacking too much. Researchers from The Ohio State University analyzed data from over 20,000 individuals and discovered that Americans consume between 400 and 500 calories from snacks daily, often surpassing the caloric intake of breakfast and lacking nutritional value.
“The magnitude of the impact isn’t realized until you actually look at it,” says study senior author Christopher Taylor, a professor of medical dietetics in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at Ohio State, in a university release. “Snacks are contributing a meal’s worth of intake to what we eat without it actually being a meal. You know what dinner is going to be: a protein, a side dish or two. But if you eat a meal of what you eat for snacks, it becomes a completely different scenario of, generally, carbohydrates, sugars, not much protein, not much fruit, not a vegetable. So it’s not a fully well-rounded meal.”
The study utilized data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, which collects detailed 24-hour dietary recalls. It categorized participants based on their HbA1c level, an indicator of glucose control, into groups such as nondiabetes, prediabetes, controlled diabetes, and poorly controlled diabetes. Findings showed that snacks accounted for 19.5 to 22.4 percent of total energy intake, primarily consisting of convenience foods, sweets, and sugary beverages.
An interesting observation was that individuals controlling their Type 2 diabetes tended to snack less and consume fewer sugary foods compared to those without diabetes or with prediabetes.
Delusions of Adequacy 