CDC blames carbs in battle of bulge

[Guest guest]

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/02/06/cdc_blames_carb

s_in_battle_of_bulge/

The Wall St Journal version of this CDC report includes the

following:

" The 335 extra calories a day women are eating now as compared with

1971, for example, would be very hard to burn off by exercise alone.

Meanwhile, it takes only 3,500 extra calories to cause a pound of

weight gain, Dr. Popkin said -- resulting in a pound gained every 10

days.

" This points out that the government has to start to work with the

food industry to reduce our food intake, " Dr. Popkin said.

The finger-pointing at carbohydrates as the main contributor to

increased calorie intake is likely to further enhance the current

popularity of low-carb diets such as Atkins. But the diet guru

behind the low-fat craze of the 1990s -- a trend now blamed by some

experts for weight increases -- has a different take on the study.

" With this report, some people will say the low-carb people were

right: Americans do eat too many carbs, " said Dean Ornish, clinical

professor of medicine at the University of California, San

Francisco. " But most of the increase is in simple carbs. The goal is

to reduce simple carbs and fat. "

While they are eating more, more people are exercising, the CDC said

in another report released Thursday. Using data from another survey

of 35 states and Washington, D.C., the agency found that between

1988 and 2002, the number of adults reporting that they engaged in

moderate activity -- brisk walking, golf, or gardening -- at least

once a month rose.

While 32% of those surveyed didn't engage in any leisure time

physical activity in 1989, in 2002 that number had dropped to 25%.

The agency said the percentage is still short of the government's

goal to reduce the portion of inactive people to 20% by the year

2010.

Ms. at the CDC said it wasn't clear why the percentage

increase in calorie consumption was so much greater for women than

for men. " That's something we want to investigate further, " she said.

The nutrition data were collected in personal interviews with

subjects in which they were asked to recall everything they had

eaten in the previous 24-hour period. Actual consumption levels are

probably higher, said n Nestle, professor of nutrition at New

York University. Studies have shown that people " systematically

underreport " what they are eating, she said. "