000608 US to Study Why Americans Eat the Way They Do

Washington - With more than half of all Americans now overweight, the Clinton administration said on Tuesday it would study the effects of popular weight-loss diets and probe why people eat what they do, even when they know it is bad for them.

At a conference billed as “The National Nutrition Summit,” US Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said the United States must also do more to fight hunger. While many Americans have too much food in their stomachs, millions of others still don't have enough to eat, he said.

In a videotaped speech that paid tribute to a landmark 1969 White House meeting on food, nutrition and health, President Bill Clinton noted the contradictory problems of hunger and obesity facing the United States.

“While we've come a long way in promoting good nutrition and health, too many Americans still are malnourished, without food or living unhealthy lifestyles,” Clinton said. “Nearly fifty-five percent of our population is overweight or obese--including one-in-five children.”

Despite a wealth of information about the link between proper nutrition and good health, many Americans continue to make poor eating choices. “We can't seem to all convert all that nutritional knowledge into changed behavior,” Glickman said. “The fact is only 12% of the American people have a good diet.” The large number of overweight Americans has created a huge market for weight loss plans, such as those that recommend diets high in protein or low in sugar.

US Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala took aim at the “fad diets” in her remarks. “Stop doing them. They won't last. Instead, take the weight off slowly and steadily through a powerful combination of sensible eating and physical activity,” she said.

Last week, the administration issued new dietary guidelines that, for the first time, emphasize the importance of exercise to healthy living and recommend a diet high in whole-grain foods and fruits and vegetables.

One reason for the popularity of many weight-loss diets may be a “lack of reliable scientific research... to counter the claims made by their promoters,” Glickman said.

To shed some light on the issue, the Agriculture Department will begin a coordinated research program to examine the health and nutrition effects of various popular diets, he said.

The department will also launch a “behavioral nutrition initiative” to examine why people make the food and exercise choices that they do. “Why do we keep reaching for those extra large orders of french fries when we know too much fat is a slow form of poison?” Glickman said.

In a sign of the strong emotions food can arouse, Glickman narrowly escaped being hit in the face with an apple pie at the start of the conference. An animal rights activist threw the pie just as Glickman was beginning his speech.

Security guards quickly grabbed the woman, who was hauled away shouting: “Shame on you for promoting meat.”

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