Hidden calories fuelling obesity
Average person eating too much by underestimating their calorie intake by 50pc, officials warn
THE obesity crisis is being fuelled by the average person eating 50 per cent more calories than they realise, estimates from the Office for National Statistics have suggested.
The statistics show that men are the worst at kidding themselves – typically consuming 1,000 more calories than they estimate every day – while women consume around 800 calories more than they account for.
The more people eat, the less reliable their estimates are, the research found.
Experts said the underestimating occurred because people did not like to “be taken for slobs” and ended up lying to themselves.
The results were released as Public Health England (PHE) prepares to launch a new calorie counting campaign, as part of efforts to combat the obesity epidemic. Two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese, along with one third of children by the time they leave primary school.
The new data suggest that the crisis is being fuelled by the fact that the average person wildly underestimates the amount of calories they are consuming daily. The survey of more than 4,000 adults asked men and women to attempt to keep a count of their calorie consumption over four days.
It tracked how many calories participants expended, as a proxy of their likely intake, and found a massive gulf between estimated consumption and the number of calories expended.
On average, men reported an average daily consumption of 2,065 calories, while the average for women was 1,570. However, men were found to expend an average of 3,119 calories, meaning that was likely to be their real consumption level – at least. Women were expending 2,393 daily.
The more overweight people were, the less reliable their account of their calorie intake was, the research found, while women were slightly more accurate than men.
Next month health officials will launch a national campaign, urging the public to cut down on calories.
Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, said: “People lie and I am not surprised that they do when it comes to food. They wish not to be taken for slobs, even though they may be just that.” He said the new guidance on calorie counting, due out in March, was an “absolutely ridiculous” attempt to solve the problem, as it was unrealistic.
The PHE advice, in the One You nutrition campaign, will say that adults should limit lunches and dinners to 600 calories each, with 400 calories for breakfast.
Those behind the campaign say overall recommended daily consumption levels are unchanged – at 2,000 calories for women and 2,500 for men – but that the guidance is a “rule of thumb” to help people cut back.
Health officials say the average adult is consuming 200 to 300 more calories every day than they should.
But the new figures suggest this may be a significant underestimate, explaining the growing obesity crisis.
Britain is the fattest country in Western Europe, international research shows, with rates of obesity rising even faster than those in the United States.
Research has attributed these rising obesity levels to changes in diet, with increasing portion sizes, far more meals eaten outside the home and a shift to ready meals, junk foods and snacks. During the Seventies, fewer than 3 per cent of adults in England were obese, compared with 25 per cent
now. While activity levels have fallen slightly over the past four decades, most of the weight gain is blamed on the rising amount of high-calorie foods consumed.
Habits which were once occasional treats such as takeaways and restaurants have become the norm, experts say. Today British families eat out at least twice as much as they did in the Seventies – for one in five meals.
Analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development last year shows obesity levels in the UK have risen by 92 per cent in just over two decades: the steepest rise among countries with an obesity problem.
Prof John Wass, a consultant endocrinologist and spokesman for the Obesity Health Alliance, said: “The technology used in this study to measure calorie intake is watertight, and the findings confirm what we already know. The fact that people appear to be underestimating their calorie intake is not surprising. This isn’t necessarily about being in denial, but demonstrates the difficulty in calculating the nutritional content of food.”
He said the efforts of dieters to lose weight, and of others to maintain a healthy weight, were being compromised by a lack of clear labelling.
Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England, said: “Under-reporting of intakes has always been a feature of all diet surveys.
“There’s no way to get rid of [it], but the steps we take to minimise it makes the National Diet and Nutrition Survey the most robust data on the population’s diet.”