Bags of chips, sugary sodas, and high calorie fast-food aren't the sole reason for America's fast rising obesity problem. A new study conducted by David Just, PhD, and Brian Wansink, PhD, co-directors of Cornell University's Food and Brand Lab, reveals that consumption of this food has almost no correlation to higher body mass index.
According to MarketWatch, the two studied the eating habits of 6,000 people from the Centers for Disease Control's National Household and Nutrition Examination Survey. The findings show that 95% of the population experienced no significant increase in BMI from consuming junk food.
The doctors says that the real problem lies in calories. Their data shows that the average American ingests over 500 calories more every day than they did four decades ago: 2,544 calories per day in 2010 versus 2,039 in 1970.
In Just's opinion diet campaigns should avoid the pitfall of pinning everything on these so called fatty foods.
"diets and health campaigns aimed at reducing and preventing obesity may be off track if they hinge on demonizing specific foods." Says Just. "If we want real change we need to look at the overall diet, and physical activity. Narrowly targeting junk foods is not just ineffective, it may be self-defeating as it distracts from the real underlying causes of obesity."
Dr. Just isn't junk food is good for you, he just believes that society's current attitude toward health is too centered on curbing such foods when they aren't the whole problem.
"Simply put, just because those things can lead you to get fat doesn't mean that's what is making us fat," He says. "By targeting just these vilified foods, we are creating policies that are not just highly ineffective, but may be self-defeating as it distracts from the real underlying causes of obesity."
