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Study: Junk about One-Third of U.S. Diet
The article “Study: Junk about One-Third of U.S. Diet” was published on June
2nd in the Health section of CNN.com. The article was written in Washington and
copyrighted by Reuters.
Gladys Block is a professor of epidemiology and public health nutrition at the
University of California, Berkeley. She led a study on the diets of Americans. The
study found out what kind of food our calories come from. According to the study,
almost one-third of the calories eaten by Americans comes from junk food.
Specifically, about 25% of calories in the American diet comes from sweets and
desserts, soft drinks and alcoholic beverages. Another 5% of the calories comes
from salty snacks and fruit-flavored drinks. Block obtained her data of about 4,700
adults from a U.S. government survey in 1999 and 2000. The adults were asked to
tell what foods they had eaten the previous 24 hours. Block emphasized that junk
foods contribute calories without providing vitamins and minerals. “In contrast,
such healthy foods as vegetables and fruit make up only 10% of the caloric intake
in the U.S. diet" (par. 10). Since it is possible to be both obese and undernourished,
she advises people not only to eat less, but to eat differently.
In my opinion, Americans should pay attention to this kind of study.
Diabetes and heart disease are becoming more and more common among both
adults and children. We need to eat more nutritious foods, cut down on junk food,
and exercise more if we want to live longer and healthier lives.