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By Matthew Rees

Food and Health Fact #168: Americans' dietary self-deception

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Approximately 70 percent of U.S. adults are overweight and within this group, 42 percent are obese. But surveys of Americans consistently show that majorities believe their weight is where it should be and that they have healthy dietary patterns.

The latest evidence comes from a forthcoming study whose lead author is Jessica Thomson, a research epidemiologist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The study, which is based on a survey of nearly 10,000 adults, showed 8 percent of those surveyed believed their diet to be “excellent,” 22 percent said “very good,” 41 percent said “good,” 24 percent said “fair,” and 6 percent said “poor.”

The participants were then asked to list everything they had eaten over the past 24 hours. Based on the foods included, Thomson assigned a letter grade -- corresponding to grades given in school settings -- to each person’s diet.

The results? Fewer than 1 percent had an “A” diet, 3 percent had a “B” diet,” 9 percent had a “C” diet, 19 percent had a “D” diet, and 70 percent had an “F” diet.

Only 15 percent of those surveyed accurately characterized the quality of their diet. The most accurate assessments came from the 6 percent who said they had a “poor” diet – 97 percent of them were correct. In the other four categories, the accuracy ranged from 1 percent to 18 percent.

Among those who inaccurately characterized their diet quality, 99 percent overrated it.

The findings are not surprising. For the past 20 years, Gallup has asked Americans once a year to characterize their weight (see the data here). No more than 6 percent have ever characterized themselves as “very overweight” (which could be interpreted as obese) and about 35 percent typically identify themselves as “somewhat overweight,” while roughly 55 percent identify as “about right.”

Approximately 55 percent also say they would like to lose weight, though when asked “At this time are you seriously trying to lose weight?” about 75 percent admit that they are not.