Economists Do It With Models

8 responses so far ↓

• 1 EconSchill // Jul 22, 2010 at 10:45 am

  I’ve always thought a more realistic American food grouping would be salt, grease, sugar and bubbles (for carbonated beverages). Get a grip on those and we’d all be healthier.

  Note: bacon would be counted in two out of four - three out of four if sugar cured.

• 2 Lindsay McSweeney // Jul 22, 2010 at 10:47 am

  Vegetables looks awfully high — are they including things in this category like corn syrup, ketchup?

• 3 Matt // Jul 22, 2010 at 11:01 am

  It seems as if you Americans are eating healthier than in recent years. Please correct me if I’m wrong.

• 4 Dave // Jul 22, 2010 at 3:19 pm

  I always wonder how people collect these statistics because they aren’t always believable.

  An example: It says the average American consumes 631.9 pounds of dairy products (excluding butter, which is in another category) per year, yet only 112.4 pounds of that are cheese or milk. That leaves 519.5 pounds of dairy, per person, unaccounted for — but what could it possibly be? does anyone really consume, on average, more than a pound per day of ice cream, yogurt and coffee creamer? No way.

  Another example: According to this chart, the average American consumes about half as many calories per day as me (I eat a lot — although I eat much less than I used to, I still average about 5500 calories per day.), yet, also according to the chart, I am taller and lighter than the average American man. According to my doc, my metabolism rate is “normal”, so, given my sedentary lifestyle as a consultant/software developer, that doesn’t add up.

• 5 Scott Ritchie // Jul 22, 2010 at 9:26 pm

  Dave, maybe they’re measuring consumption rather than actual eating. Which would be completely misleading, of course, since it would count using 5 pounds of milk to make a pound of cheese as consuming 6 pounds of dairy.

  At least they’re not counting vegetables fed to animals as something we’re eating too (or are they?)

• 6 Amarsir // Jul 23, 2010 at 4:26 am

  It looks like the principle source was this one:

  http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0104742.html

  which says the milk number is “All dairy products, milk equivalent, milkfat basis. Includes condensed and evaporated milk and dry milk products.”

  I take “milkfat basis” to be the meaningful bit there, that ice cream is therefore being recorded as “equivalent fat to X lbs of milk”. Which certainly is misleading.

• 7 Andrew // Jul 24, 2010 at 5:25 pm

  Dave - I agree the chart isn’t very helpful or even probably realistic/accurate. As for your eating habits –5500 calories and you are sedentary, taller, and lighter than average male? No way. I know tri-athletes who consume that level of calories per day but they are burning it in 3-4 hours of training daily. 3500 calories = about a pound. If you are truly sedentary you would be gaining about a pound a day.

• 8 Dave // Jul 25, 2010 at 5:46 pm

  Andrew, here is a sample day of food consumption for me (on this day, the total was actually 7305 calories — somewhat more than normal).

  BREAKFAST and MORNING SNACK (at home and at work):

  Two cups of O.J. — 220 (p)
  Bran Muffin — 375 (c)
  Two cups black tea — 0
  One cup water — 0

  LUNCH (out at McDonald’s):

  Quarter Pounder with Cheese — 510 (m)
  Large fries — 500 (m)
  Cheeseburger — 300 (m)
  Three pints of Soda (no ice) — 540 (p)

  AFTERNOON SNACK (at work):

  Candy Bar — 130 (c)
  Two snack bars — 180 (c)
  Two cups green tea — 0
  Two cups water — 0

  DINNER (out at On the Border):

  OTB Ranchiladas Dinner — 1490 (o)
  Chips and Salsa (two baskets) — 860 (o)
  Three pints water — 0

  DESERT (out at Fox and Hound):

  Two pints of beer — 400 (c)
  One pint water — 0
  Four large soft pretzels — 1800 (c)

  LATE NIGHT SNACK (at home):

  Four cups decaff green tea — 0
  Two cups water — 0

  (references: p - product packaging; m - McDonald’s web site; c - Calorie King web site; o - On the Border web site)

  According to my doctor, everything about my digestion and metabolism is normal — no cancer, no parasites, no hypothyroidism, no digestive system problems — everything is normal.

  BTW, I’m Catholic, so I fast every so often. The last time I fasted, about a month ago, I consumed less than 2500 calories over the course of the entire week. Since my “steady weight” calorie consumption is 5500 x 7 = 38500 per week, I consumed 36000 calories less than “maintenance level” that week. If the nutritionists were correct, I should have lost more than ten pounds that week. In fact, I lost less than two pounds that week (and gained it back right away when I started eating normally again).

  I can only conclude that the nutrition stats we’re being fed are completely and utterly useless.

  — Dave

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