Trends in food consumption: implications for infant feeding.

Abstract

We now have a near consensus that Americans should reduce their consumption of fat, especially saturated fat and cholesterol, consume a higher proportion of unsaturated fat, and eat less sugar and salt and more fruits, vegetables, and sources of complex carbohydrates. Data on what Americans are eating are fragmentary and undoubtedly outdated, because products continually change. Many, but not all, changes in consumption are in the right direction. This trend will continue, but we will be increasingly dependent on the food industries as more convenient foods are demanded. No one recommends very low fat diets for infants. There appears to be no evidence of risk at the recommended level of 30% of calories as fat. There will undoubtedly be some problems resulting from overemphasis on the risks associated with fat, sugar, and so forth, but there is no basis for questioning the general advice about what Americans should eat. Children must and eventually will learn to eat the family diet.