Do Americans Eat 3,790 Calories Per Day?

It would be interesting to see the average daily calorie usage of individuals due to their activity level.

If the original source of these figures are the USDA numbers that came out last Spring, there are a lot of provisos. What they did was compute this from the actual food production in the United States divided by population, and there were lots of adjustments they had to make, including imports and exports, food waste, food spoilage, etc. It's sort of like trying to measure how many miles you've driven by measuring your car's tread wear rather than using an odometer. You can't really put much credence in these kinds of numbers, other than for year-to-year trends, and even those get out of whack if you try to compare years that are far apart.

That's a really horrific number IF it is true. But, for once, I think Mark could be correct here. I'm a pretty muscular guy with a stronger metabolism than most, but 3,790 calories is almost what I would eat if I were bulking. For the sedentary, this is beyond overkill.

If Mark is right, these figures are meaningless. I know that a lot of crop production in the US is wasted to keep prices artificially high. There is also the factor of food being donated to other countries.

As well, I read recently that here in Australia about 1/4 of household food purchases are wasted, and I would expect a similar figure apples to the US.

If this is true, then even in 1980 Americans were eating too much. I'm not so sure it's blown out of proportion. After all, this would certainly account for the growing obesity epidemic, right? I mean, obviously Americans are eating far too much, or we wouldn't be overweight.
It surprises me that many people even have the time to eat this much. Or perhaps it's just the type of food that they're eating.

3,790 calories per day? I don’t think these numbers are accurate. 3,000 would have been a little more believable, but still an overestimation.

If we are talking averages, I think a real number is no more than 2,300.

Claire S: Well, weight gain and loss is not just sheer calories in minus calories out. I wish it were that simple. Food type makes a difference, thermic effect makes a difference, perhaps even individual metabolic types (what foods a person metabolizes well). Also, if you don't feed your organs the right nutrients, you can run into problems. For example, if you're not properly hydrated, your kidneys shut down and your liver takes up some of their duties. However, your liver is also in charge of metabolizing fat, and this can become a lower priority. I've seen people lose weight simply by adding half a gallon of pure water a day.

Ryan - Yes, that's true, you're right that the type of food would make a difference. I'm sure you know more about it than me, but when I think about it, a few value meals at McDonald's would probably add up to 3700...especially if you go for the giant Coke and large fries.
If we were going on food surplus as a way to estimate calories, wouldn't there be a much greater change over the past 20 years? So much more food is produced than needed these days, it seems that the calories per person would be way higher.
Again, I'm not too knowledgable on this particular subject, just speculating.

Food wastage is certainly becoming an issue in my house. We moved to the country last year and now I only shop once a week... it's difficult to buy the perfect amount of fresh fruit and veggies to last that week, and sometimes I actually make too much supper just so I won't have to throw things away.

Lonnie,

That is surprising. I thought it is easier to buy fresh fruits and veggies in the country.

Amish eat around 3,000 to 5,000 a day do to their activity level/

Our community is 400 people and, although there is a local store, it's very expensive. I drive 20 miles to the nearest large town to buy groceries at a supermarket. We are not a farming community here so there are no locally grown choices.

When I looked at the chart, and took the estimate math, here are the mathamatics:

Average Daily Caloric consumption: 3790

Total Fat: 153 grams (Fat calories: 1377)
Percentage of fat in calories: (1377/3790) 36%

Total Protein: 120 grams (Protein calories: 480)
Percentage of protein in calories: (480/3790) 13%

Total Carbohydrates: 483 grams (Carb calories 1932)

Total Caloric consumption: 3790

We are consuming: 36% fat, 13% protein, and 51% protein. In other words, we are actually not getting enough protein in our diet. Seems that the right way to go from here on foward is to consume more protein.

So, from here on, low fat and low carb diets arn't the solution. Instead, Americans ought to go on high protein diets.

And based on the statistics, Americans were NOT eating meat, but they were eating fatty, sugary junk food. So, it's NOT all the meat that we are eating that's making us sick, it's the junk food, laden with refined carbs, trans fats, and too much saturated fats in our diets. In other words, Americans should now focus on eating more lean animal protein, and less junk stuff like burgers, fries, ice cream, pizza, and sugary drinks, sodas, and fraps.

Now I am not saying give up on cakes, ice cream, and fraps, but I AM saying, give up on trans fats. Lower the saturated fat and omega 6 polyunsaturated fats, eat more momounsaturated and omega 3 fatty acids, and put more protein and less sugar in the diet.

Instead of tofu, eat a variety of lean protein (fish, chicken, lean red meat, especially bison). New research are now showing that people who eat lean meat diets had actually lower cholesterol levels than people who are eating soy protein.

Avoid vegetarian diets. How many times do I have to tell these greedy medical people. We ate meat since our first days here on earth since we were chimpanzees. And this statistic proves that we arn't eating a lot of meat, but we are eating a lot of junk food. How could we eat lots of meat, since we are only consuming 13% of our caloric intake in protein? However, Americans need to eat a lot more fruits and vegtables and less pizza, cakes, and sugary drinks. And these statistic further shows that it's not the cholesterol in the foods that's causing heart attacks, but it's the trans fats and excessive amounts of sugar.

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By the way, Gerald Ford, who was president from 1973 to 1977, passed away yesterday, most likely from natural causes. He was 93 years old.

Sausage Biscuit from Chick-Fil-A with Hash Browns and and Orange Juice - 890 Calories

Big and Tasty Combo from McDonalds, with Large Fries and Large Coke (with 2 Packets of Ketchup) - 1380 Calories.

Snicker's Bar - 280 Calories

Grande Frappuccino Blended Coffee, Mocha, No Whip Cream from Starbucks - 267 Calories

Madeira Steak Tips with Sauce, Potatoes and Toast from Applebee's - 909 Calories

2 Glasses of Miller Lite - 192 Calories

Total Calories for the day - 3918

That is what 3900 calories would look like over the course of the day. I personally know people who eat more than this every day, and people who eat way less.

In my heavier days, I could eat this much no problem, so I can buy those numbers for the "average" American.

The Middle Manager - After reading your post, I need to take some antacids and lie down!