Education and reports about obesity and its effect on health and medical costs appears to be having a positive result as Americans are ingesting fewer calories, according to an article in The New York Times.
While it is difficult to measure calorie consumption, the combined data from eating diaries, food purchases and measures of the food supply have helped illustrate a drop in overall calories being eaten - a sustained decrease since food calories were first measured 40 years ago. Regular soda consumption has shown the most decline, especially among children.
Despite these positive results, American diets still lack adequate amounts of fruit and vegetables, says the article. In addition, the drop in calories is not equal among all demographics and needs to continue for weights to return to 1978 levels.
Editor's note: The vending industry should be proud that the association and so many operators proactively addressed the obesity issue with Fit Pick and the programs that proceeded it. There is hope that this documented change in consumer habits will be seen in vending purchases as well, especially in locations where there are restrictions on what can be sold, such as school vending machines.
