Are We Healthier Today?

In the day of health and fitness awareness, when restaurants seem more intent on offering healthy alternatives, and gyms are on every corner; when organic is the buzz word…

Are we healthier than we once were?

I don’t know…but I found an article I read recently in Delta Sky Magazine interesting.

Comparing numbers then and now, here’s what our diet looks like:

Then:

Pounds of cheese eaten per capita in 1909… 4

Now:

Pounds of cheese eaten per capita in 2000… 32

Then:

Food items at the supermarket in 1978… 10,425

Now:

Food items at the supermarket in 2008… 46,852

Then:

Percentage of obese adolescent children in 1970… 5%

Now:

Percentage of obese adolescent children in 2010… 17%

Then:

Carbohydrates consumed by the average person per day in 1970… 389 grams

Now:

Carbohydrates consumed by the average person per day in 2000… 490 grams

Then:

Fats and oils consumed per capita in 1909… 41 lbs.

Now:

Fats and oils consumed per capita in 2000… 79 lbs.

Then:

Percent of calories eaten away from home in 1977… 18%

Now:

Percent of calories eaten away from home in 1996… 32%

What does this mean? What do you make of these numbers? In the age of diets and health kicks, are we any healthier? What do you think?

Answer this: Are you more conscious about what you eat now than you were 10 years ago? Be honest!