Fat intake US has remained rather stable during the past decades despite many claims. I present here the case based on USDA and NHANES data. Claiming that fat intake has decreased in US is as silly as advising a dieter: “If you want to follow a low-fat diet just keep your fat intake at the current level and simply increase the consumption of carbs. Then you are on low-fat diet and you will reap all the benefits of the diet”

1. Has intake of fat truly
decreased in the United
States during the last
decades?
Data from NHANES studies
and U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA)
Registered dietitian, M.Sc, MBA
Reijo Laatikainen
www.pronutritionist.net
www.twitter.com/pronutritionist
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2. NHANES studies 1971-2010
Absolute intake in grams.
Data is based on self-reports which usually
underestimate real intake
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3. Intake of fat, carbohydrates and protein (grams/day/person)
NHANES
Ford ES, Dietz WH. Trends in energy intake among adults in the United States:
findings from NHANES. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Apr;97(4):848-53.

4. Data from USDA (1971-2006)
Absolute availability per person in
grams.
Data is based on balance sheets (food
availability) which may overestimate
consumption of all macronutrients due to
incomplete correction of food waste
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5. 0
100
200
300
400
500
600
gramspercaptia/day Fat, protein and carbohydrate availability in US
(grams/day/person)
USDA
Carbohydrates
Total fat
Source: USDA, http://www.ers.usda.gov/
Protein

6. Is there any data that supported
the notion of decreased fat intake
in US?
Yes. Only data that supports this notion is data
that is presented as percentage of total energy
intake (E%). But this is misleading because the
increased intake of carbohydrates over the time,
and thus increased intake of total calories, drives
the percentage of fat calories down.
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7. NHANES studies 1971-2010
Percentage of energy intake
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8. Intake of fat, carbohydrates and protein
(percentage of energy intake/day/person)
NHANES
Ford ES, Dietz WH. Trends in energy intake among adults in the United States:
findings from NHANES. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Apr;97(4):848-53.

9. Claiming that fat intake has decreased in the
US is a silly as advising a dieter the
following:
‘If you want to follow a low-fat diet, simply
maintain your current level of fat intake and
increase your consumption of carbs. Then,
you are on a low-fat diet, and you will reap
the benefits of that diet.’
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10. Conclusion
• There is no decrease in fat intake in US population during the past
four decades.
• Intake of carbohydrates has increased and intake protein has
remained rather stable during the same time period. Therefore the
percentage of total calories from fat has decreased.
• US population has not followed low fat diet but has only increased
carbohydrate intake.
• It’s misleading to claim that US population had followed low fat diet
as it was described in dietary guidelines in 1980s.
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11. Wellcome aboard!
http://twitter.com/pronutritionist
http://www.facebook.com/pronutritionist
http://www.pronutritionist.net
Reijo Laatikainen, RD, MBA
Images bought and licensed from BigStockPhoto. Snapshots from papers and sites refered to.
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