Do Americans Eat 3,790 Calories Per Day?

Even if the number is inflated due to export, waste, etc. it's outrageous. There are calories lost due to processing for sure, but people actually eat too many calories. period. Most in the form of high fructose corn syrup. And now we have a problem with not enough wheat and other grains, food prices rising worldwide, and farmers demanding to take back conservation land. What're the obvious solutions? Grow less corn, eat less soda. If everybody in america stopped drinking soda, and we stopped burning our "food" in our cars, we could free up so much pasture/farmland to eat better food and lower prices on real food like rye bread.

some of you are flat out stupid. did you know the average *meal* one meal, at mcdonalds runs well over 700 calories? what about the chili cheese freis at outback which have over 2900 calories in them? it is beyond eay to reach thi snumber throughout the day, it all depends on what your throwing down your stomach. shit a fish sandwich from buger kind has over 1000 calories. and for whoever said 2300 is more like it... the average BMR basal metabolic rate (the number of calories your body needs throughtout the day to function) is between 2000 and 2200.

and lets not forget liquid calories... that one glass of applejuice contains over 100 calories... and thats an 8 ounce glass, not the tall boy you got sitting in your cabinent, that ones more like 300. figure it out people. i would say that 3200-3400 calories per day is easily reachable for the average american. trust my i work in nutrition and fitness, i see it all day long with hundreds of different clients.

If Americans ate 3785 calories per year, as the UN data states, they would gain nearly 200 pounds a year. It's like all the rest of the UN data - total bull.

You must not know many people from the 18 to 30 age group. I know people who consume nearly 1200 calories a day just in soda. Plus they eat 3 big meals a day. Then you have people like I used to be, who eat fast food 3 meals a day. I used to consume probably about 3500 to 4000 calories every day. Many young people don't even hardly drink water, just stuff like soda, juice, and gatorade. If anything, I think this figure could be too low.

Women need approx 10-11 calories per pound a day to maintain their weight - based on that, it's relatively easy to calculate how much we SHOULD be eating (adjust for overly active or sedentary lifestyles) and to say, "I want to weigh X lbs, (say 135) so I multiply that by 10, and I get 1350 calories a day."

I think a lot of people do NOT calculate their intake properly, and eat a lot more than they should. Once I started to keep track of my daily foods, and recognized what portion sizes were, it made a huge and immediate impact in my weight.

I also know many people who drink more than their daily calories in soda alone...

It is very easy for people to over eat, especially if they drink 5 or more cans of soda a day, or if they eat out a lot. Two meals from a fast food restaurant would put you easily over 2000 calories. This is why people need to exercise every day if they are able.

Ok, does this amount of calories include beverages? If so, I would have to say this is fairly close then. I have been a personal trainer and competitive endurance athlete for almost 10 years now and I consume around 4,000 calories a day most of the year and more on heavy training days. I weigh in at 165 lbs and I am 6'1" and 35 years old. I am a little bit stronger than most endurance athletes and I eat well to keep my muscle on.

I used to weigh 220 lbs when I was 20-23 years old and I can say I ate and drink 4,000 calories a day pretty easily. High fat foods, refined sugar food and beverages along with alcohol EQUALS high calories and weight gain!!! The numbers have been out for a while in the US, over 60% of the US is overweight and 30% are obese...You don't get that way only eating 2,000-2,500 calories a day...

By eating and drinking 4,000 calories a day, I went from 165 my senior year to 220 as a college junior. I train clients who do not completely change their eating habits and consume too much alcohol and they wonder why they can't drop weight...I am an exercise junkie, but YOU MUST EAT WELL AND EAT WELL EVERYDAY TO ACHIEVE WEIGHT LOSS AND MAINTAIN PROPER WEIGHT!!!

This is incredible (not in a good way). Considering that I know people who do worse than this, it is generally an insult to me that people who run food drives and try to help their community are wasting food that could be given to other countries that actually need it. I have an average of 600 calories a day (after exercise). That's a deficit of 1300 calories daily. If I have the willpower to eat less, then so do most of the people who made the average so high.

I definitely agree with Dr. j . Not only one variable determines our necessity of consumption of calories per day. That amount of calories burned in daily activities, the number of calories naturally burned by the body, and metabolism rate are some of what should be taken into consideration. Though, Americans have become so out of shape, and as a nation we need to get back on track for the sake of our health.

Everyone doesn't drink 5 to 11 sodas a day, and I bet that wasn't even included in the formula used. I know plenty of people who don't eat every single meal at McDonalds or drink tons of soda.