The light rising in the morning, t...

The light rising in the morning, the laws of physics, and the American diet. In the minds of many nation the third item is just as unchanging as the first sum of two units In point of fact, however, the American diet is a relatively new phenomenon, one which has changed dramatically since the beginning of the 20th century

to what extent the American diet evolved from the 1900 to the 1990 mirrors the compages relationship between technology, economics, and social changes that have occurred

Our grocer's shop store shelves are now lined with subsistences with practically no expiration date, nevertheless chocked full of preservatives, stabilizers, artificial colors, flavor enhancers, and a army of other laboratory-derived additives. A far bawl from fresh eggs gathered from the barn or fruit picked not on a tree in the backyard. The nutritional quality of many fodders in our grocery stores today bears little resemblance to that of the basic foodstuff of yesteryear.

A stair backward to the diet of our great-grandfathers would be healthier progres than the "new" and "improved" outcomes that show up in boxe and plastic bags onward grocery shelves.

According to research guidanceed by Barry M. Popkin, PhD and his colleagues from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, just similar healthy steps backwards are underway in the United States. Their cogitation was published in the September 5 1996 issue of the prestigious recent England Journal of Medicine.

Popkin compared dietary turns in different racial and socioeconomic form into groupss over the past three decades. A Diet Quality Index was discloseed for a total of 32406 individuals, using data from three other studies. This index encompassed eight dietary recommendations cause to growed by a panel of adroits and included information on intake of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol fruits, vegetables, carbohydrates, protein, sodium, and calcium.

through time, Popkin found that overall diet quality improved in all of the collections Specifically, fat consumption was lower for all of the assemblages intake of grains and simple pods generally increased, but fruit and vegetable intake remained about the same for chiefly groups.

We should take these findings with a grain of salt, however, since diet progres is not being made across the board. Shiriki Kumanyika, PhD MPH from the University of Illinois at Chicago points revealed in an accompanying editorial in the fresh England Journal of Medicine that, although overall fat intake is down, Americans are eating more high-fat cheese and high-fat carbohydrates, like as pizza and croissants. Americans be seen to be making poor meat choices under the guise of diet improvement, so as trading in cold breakfast cereals for granola, which is actually a higher fat item.

Another alarming sweep hidden in Popkin's data is an apparent tendency to meet of diet quality between higher and lower socioeconomic assemblages Kumanyika is concerned that this may sole represent changes to the diets of the more advantaged arranges In an ironic twist, rich tribe are starting to reap the health benefits of eating a "poor-style" diet that minimizes meat and dairy proceedss in lace of whole grains and simple pods Meanwhile, lower socioeconomic groups may be gauging their succes by dint of being able to afford steak and other gratification but unhealthful, foods.

While we applaud the efforts of Americans who eat more healthfully, there is still work to be done. A case in point is fruit and vegetable intake. Fruits and vegetables are the primary sources of important micronutrients, including vitamin C folic acid, and the carotenoids. As an example, the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin are wanted in the diet to secure the eyes from cataracts and macular degeneration.

Although Popkin's findings of diet improvements in the United States through the past 30 years are heartening, as Kumanyika reminds us: "As a society, clearly, we still have a protracted way to go."

REFERENCES

Kumanyika, s "Improving our diet - Still a lengthy way to go," New England Journal of Medicine 335:738-740 September 5 1996 Popkin, BM Siega-Riz, A.M., and Haines, P "A comparison of dietary stretchs among racial and socioeconomic clusters in the United States," recent England Journal of Medicine 335:716-720 September 5 1996

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