Americans have gotten heavier over the years and now around two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight or obese. Generally, we are eating less healthy food, eating more of it, and not moving around enough. If you are planning to do something about those unwanted pounds in 2019, here’s some food for thought: A Harvard study has debunked the popular saying that "all calories are created equal." Public health researchers examined which foods contribute the most to long-term weight gain. Potato chips topped the list, contributing to a 1.69-pound (0.77-kg) average weight gain over a four-year period among individuals who ate them regularly. Regularly eating any sort of potatoes was second on the list, at 1.28 pounds (0.58 kg), followed by sugar-sweetened drinks at 1 pound (0.45 kg). On the other hand, consistently eating yogurt was linked to a decrease of 0.82 pounds (0.37 kg) over the four-year period. Eating fruit, nuts, vegetables, and whole grains also had similar weight loss effects.
Step away from those chips:
- Among the 120,000 male and female study participants, the average weight gain every four years was 3.35 pounds (1.5 kg) -- which equates to gaining 17 pounds (7.7 kg) over 20 years.
- Since 1960, weight gain in the United States has been slightly greater for women (an 18.5 percent increase) than for men (17.6 percent), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in 2015. But Americans are also about an inch (2.54 cm) taller, on average, since then.
- The average American is 33 pounds (15 kg) heavier than the average person in France and 40 pounds (18.1 kg) heavier than the average person in Japan, according to 2012 research published in the journal BMC Public Health.