Simply adding healthier foods to an already unhealthy diet isn't going to stop the obesity epidemic. Even as people across the country increase their consumption of fruits and veggies, obesity is still on the rise, according to a new study from Roland Sturm, a RAND health economist, and Ruopeng An, a health policy professor at the University of Illinois.
So what's the problem? While Americans are eating more produce, they aren't changing the rest of their diets. Sure, eating an apple a day is great for your health, but chasing a burger and fries with fruit doesn't magically erase those bad-for-you calories. "Preventing obesity is not about eating more food, regardless of how many nutrients it provides, but consuming less energy or expending more," wrote Sturm and An.
On average, people currently consume around 30 more pounds of veggies and 25 more pounds of fruit per year then they did in 1970. While that number is certainly a positive shift, the big issue lies with another augmented figure. In addition to eating more fruit, people are just eating more in general. While adults typically ate around 2,100 calories per day in 1970, that number has risen to more than 2,500 today.
Sturn and An's findings seem to directly oppose a popular view on obesity — that people would weigh less if they had better access to affordable fresh produce. While it might be the case that certain groups would definitely benefit from a wider availability of cheaper produce, this study looks at macro-level shifts across the entire country. So, yes, fresh produce is great. But not when it's just in addition to an already unhealthy, high-calorie diet.
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