For the study, Just and his colleague Brian Wansink, director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab, used the 2007-2008 National Household and Nutrition Examination Survey to analyze a sample of about 5,000 adults in the United States.
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Also, while fast food already has a bad reputation due to its ill effects on people’s health, Just explains that focusing on a junk food diet as the only villain in the obesity crisis could actually be detrimental to people’s efforts of dealing with the disease, as it could lead people to disregard the real underlying causes of the problem.
There is no correlation between the consumption of junk food and body mass index or BMI, a common measure of body fat, they report.
Researchers suggested that, by default, junk food has been seen as a means for becoming obese, but when intake of such food was compared between healthy weight and obese individuals, it was found that they consume almost identical amounts on average.
A new study reveals that junk food is not the leading cause of obesity in the United States. “It’s just that it doesn’t look like that it’s those foods that are making people fat generally”.
The co-director of the Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics, in Ithaca, New York goes on to say, “For 95 percent of the country, there is no relationship between how much fast food and junk food they’re eating and their weight”.
These findings suggest that clinicians and practitioners seeking to help individuals obtain a healthy weight should examine how overall consumption patterns, such as snacking, and physical activity influence weight instead of just eliminating “junk foods” from patient’s diets.
While the study acknowledges junk food is an unhealthy choice, it says junk food gets far more blame for obesity that it deserves.
“If you’re thinking about this as a dieter, more than likely if all you’re doing is cutting out junk foods it’s not going to have much of an impact”, Just said.
But experts caution that the study should not be interpreted to mean that eating junk food is not harmful to weight.
“[Overall] these foods aren’t good for you”.
Nutritionist Samantha Heller, as well as the authors of the study, warn that the research’s findings shouldn’t be misinterpreted as proof that fast food consumption is harmless.
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“I find that when people cut down on these foods, and add whole, real foods like fruits, vegetables, lean protein and healthy fat, they lower their calorie consumption naturally without feeling hungry or deprived”, she said.
