Do You Eat Too Much? Maybe, Maybe Not.

Everyone eats three extra cheeseburgers worth of calories a day?

True or false?

For perspective that is about 900 calories or 3/4 of a bag of chips, 8 glasses of wine, 18 apples, 30 cups of broccoli, 18 cups of watermelon or 300 cherry tomatoes.

A new study examining whether overweight people ate more than they reported when compared to slimmer participants found that everyone ate more than reported. That is probably true.

The problems with this particular study.

1. There were only 221 participants.
2. They used food diaries.
3. They used “innovative mathematical models to correct for the difference in body size between obese and non-obese adults.”

Undistuputable Facts

Everyone does eat more than they think they do, regardless of size. This is a fact that health care and weight loss professionals accept as true. It’s not malicious, it is simply that we aren’t really good at remembering, measuring, or estimating calorie intake.

Using a food diary is an easy way to track food intake. It isn’t perfect, but it is for many reasons, good enough.

Too few participants skew the results. With just over 200 participants this study is too small to show an effect.

What do I think?

Yes, I think everyone underestimates what they eat during the day. Do I think it is, as this study concludes, 1200 calories more for overweight people and about 800 calories more a day for normal-weight people?

That is possible, but it depends on what you are eating.

A bag of chips is 1200 calories, super easy to eat and doesn’t really change the rest of your food intake during the day. Having a couple of glasses of wine only increases calorie totals by about 300 calories. However most people snack when they drink, once again increasing the empty calories consumption.

If you eat primarily whole unprocessed foods, it is much harder to eat 900 calories, you would feel too full unless you are snacking on nuts.

What else?

A couple of other things. First, what does an innovative model to correct for body size even mean? I have all sorts of theories, but no clear answer. Second, what was actual the point of this study? We know that self-reports are flawed but with large sample size, usually good enough.

Finally, what do you think?

Is this a surprise? Or do you think this study helps you think about your daily intake differently?

Change your mind, change your health,

Shayla