Americans finally eating less, say food diaries and sale records

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- The U.S. may have finally reached a turning point in the battle with obesity.

There is still a long way to go, but the message may finally be getting through: that eating and drinking too much is harmful.

Because according to store sales and food diaries, Americans are now eating less.

For adults, calorie consumption peaked in 2003, but it has been declining slowly since.

It had been on a steady rise since the 1970s, when convenience food became an ever-larger portion of the American diet.

This is the first sustained decline since the government began tracking eating trends in the 1970s.

For children, calorie consumption has declined an average of 9 per cent.

The biggest shift has been in full-calorie soda, where sales are down 25 per cent since the late 1990s.

The declines cut across most major demographic groups,including higher and lower-income families, as well as blacks and whites, although the declines vary somewhat by group.

However, the obesity epidemic is far from over.

One-third of Americans are still considered obese.

Americans still aren't eating nearly enough fruits and vegetables, and they are still eating too much junk food.

But the downward trend is encouraging.