The state of the American diet

Americans’ diets are slowly improving, but we’re still scarfing too much junk, according to a new report card on the nation’s eating habits. Researchers examined the diets of nearly 44,000 adults from 1999 to 2016 and observed some positive trends. Over the study period, the typical American went from getting 52.5 percent of daily calories from carbohydrates to 50.5 percent. Added sugars fell from 16.4 percent to 14.4 percent of daily calories, possibly because we’re drinking fewer sugary sodas. But the American diet is still heavy on foods that can fuel heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and other ailments. Low-quality carbs, such as sugar and white bread, and starchy vegetables make up 42 percent of daily calories. We get 12 percent of our daily calories from saturated fats—the recommended limit is 10 percent—because of our high consumption of red and processed meats. “We have a long way to go to meet dietary recommendations,” study author Shilpa Bhupathiraju, from Harvard Medical School, tells Reuters .com. “This includes increasing intakes of whole grains, whole fruit, nonstarchy vegetables, nuts, and legumes.”

seas is now unavoidable, according to a new United Nations report. Since 1970, oceans have absorbed 90 percent of the excess heat generated by carbon pollution in the atmosphere, as well as much of the carbon dioxide itself. This has triggered profound changes in oceanic chemistry. Upper layers of open ocean are holding less oxygen and becoming more acidic, wreaking havoc on marine ecosystems. The frequency of marine heat waves, blamed for mass die-offs of coral reefs and other ocean habitats, has doubled since the 1980s. Even if humanity manages to massively slash carbon emissions in coming decades, the negative effects of climate change will continue, the report found. In the best-case scenario, sea levels are still expected to rise by 1 to 2 feet over the next century because of melting glaciers and sea ice. Andrew Pershing, chief scientific officer at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, tells NPR.org, “That means, no matter what we do, we have to figure out how are we going to adapt to these changes.”

cat’s response. Some two-thirds of the kitties went to greet their owners, then went back to exploring the room. Those animals were securely attached to their owners, researchers concluded, using them as a safe base in an unfamiliar situation. One-third of the felines showed insecure attachment, shunning their owners or clinging to them when they returned. Studies of dogs and children have yielded similar results, with 65 percent of infants and 58 percent of dogs showing a secure attachment to caregivers. “The more we find out about cats,” lead author Kristyn Vitale tells The New York Times, “the more we’re seeing that they are social creatures.”