What America Eats

The results of Parade magazine’s annual survey of Americans’ eating habits are just in, and the prognosis is grim: A whopping 84% of those surveyed this year say they try to eat a well-balanced diet—but mostly fail.

Here are some other positive and negative findings from the 2005 What America Eats^® survey:

• 78% favor pizza as their top take-out food.
  
• 76% of adults now opt for fruit instead of other snacks.
  
• 76% believe it is “unhealthy” to eliminate an entire food group, such as carbs, from their diets.
  
• Women still grossly outnumber men as the primary food shoppers in the family (71% versus a measly 12%).
  
• Skipping meals is rampant, with 7 in 10 people passing on breakfast and another 37% regularly forgoing lunch.
  
• Half of those surveyed consider convenience foods part of “homemade” meals.
  

Results were published in the November 13, 2005, edition of Parade.