Carbohydrate, Sugar, and Obesity in America

We like explanations that are simple, easy to understand, and explain everything. One example of this is the idea that eating carbohydrate, or sugar, is the primary cause of obesity. This lets us point our finger at something concrete and change our behavior accordingly. And it's true enough that it has practical value. But the world around us often turns out to be more complex than we'd like it to be.

The CDC recently released its latest data on the prevalence of obesity in the US, spanning the years 2013-2014 (1). These data come from its periodic National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES). Contrary to what many of us had hoped for after a slight decline in obesity in the last survey, the prevalence has once again increased. Today, roughly 38 percent of US adults have obesity. As a nation, we're continuing to gain fat, which is extremely concerning.

I decided to examine the relationship between obesity prevalence and our intake of carbohydrate and sugar over the years. The food intake data come from the USDA's Economic Research Service (2). For some reason, the data on carbohydrate don't extend beyond 2010. This probably relates to funding cuts at the USDA*.

Let's have a look at the data for carbohydrate:

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