010352 Magazine Exposes Eating Habits of “Average Guy”

New York - The staff at “Men's Health” magazine have profiled the average American male's eating habits and the picture isn't pretty: almost one third of men would rather marry a great cook than a great sex partner; men's favorite snack is potato chips; and the meal they are most likely to prepare for a romantic date? Spaghetti.

“It's not a scientific study and they are not pretending to be a scientific study,” commented American Dietetic Association spokesperson, nutritionist Dr. Chris Rosenbloom. “But I think it really gives a snapshot of an average guy, and it shows some of the ambivalence that we see in average guys, which is: 'I want the body that is on the cover of Men's Health but I don't want to eat well to get there.”'

The consumption figures include a range of fast-food facts and eating tips for guys including, for example, how to avoid vomiting: if raw meat smells like a “dirty dish rag,” throw it out. The magazine gathered the information from a variety of sources, including the US Department of Agriculture's Continuing Survey of Food intakes by Individuals, the Texas Department of Corrections, the Snack Food Association, and the Food Marketing Institute's “Men's Food Shopping.”

Among the sobering list of “useless facts” (as the magazine labeled them):

-- spoiled ground beef is the food in the fridge most likely to make an average man violently ill;

-- a juicy steak is the food most guys would request as a last meal when facing the electric chair;

-- the odds that a man ate fast-food on any given day is 1 out of 2.5;

-- an average guy eats out five times per week;

-- the average man eats 26 pounds of beef, 57 pounds of chicken, 16 pounds of cheese, 17 pounds of fish, and 11 pounds of pork annually;

-- 603 cups of coffee are downed per year per average guy;

-- 19 pizza pies will meet their maker in the form of the average American male;

-- and each year, the average man gains 1.1 pounds.

Rosenbloom, who was not involved in putting together the composite, said that the very notion of publicizing such a portrait reveals the push-and-pull men are facing regarding their health and fitness.

“I think it's typical of what I see in magazines of all types,” she noted. “In women's magazines, I see a gorgeous women on the cover and then I see 300 recipes for cookies inside. So there's that ambivalence.”

Rosenbloom added that, in any event, the reported numbers did not seem all that shocking. “It's less than two cups of coffee a day, so the numbers may not be as staggering as they appear. And 19 pizzas -- I would have guessed it would be a lot more than that. What I'd like to see them do on the next page is what we can do for men who are concerned about changing this picture and getting their bodies in shape.”

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