Food and Water

Think you understand healthy eating? Here’s why you might be wrong

Customers select vegetables at a supermarket in Hanoi September 20, 2014.

The public and nutritionists disagree on which foods are healthy and unhealthy Image:  REUTERS/Kham

Rachel Hallett

Are granola, frozen yogurt and orange juice good for your health? You might think you know the answer – but would a nutritionist agree?

 Percentage of nutritionists saying foods are healthy
Image: New York Times

Having recently agreed to review its standards by which it assesses which foods can be described as “healthy”, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) surveyed hundreds of members of the American Society for Nutrition about the health values of 52 different foods.

The US regulator also carried out a survey of a representative sample of the American electorate, asking them their opinion on how healthy certain foods were.

_________________________

Have you read?

_________________________

A healthy difference

The results revealed surprising disparities between the views of nutritionists and the general public on healthy eating.

Orange juice, American cheese, coconut oil, frozen yoghurt and SlimFast shakes were deemed far healthier by the public than the experts.

Granola created the biggest divide: 71% of the public thought it was healthy, compared with just 28% of nutritionists.

Several of the foods considered healthier by the public than by experts had something in common: they generally contained a lot of added sugar (something a nutritionist would probably be aware of).

 Food considered healthier by the public than experts
Image: New York Times
  Food considered healthier by the experts than the public
Image: New York Times

Quinoa, tofu, sushi, hummus, wine and shrimp were deemed to be healthier by experts than by the public.

The reason, according to FDA research, might be that these foods have only become part of the mainstream American diet relatively recently, and people may not be aware of their health benefits.

Other differences in opinion could be due to mixed messages in the media about healthy and unhealthy foods. For example, there are conflicting ideas about alcohol: while some believe moderate drinking has some health benefits, it's not clear where the line is between moderate and excessive consumption of alcohol.

So what foods should you eat?

There were some areas of consensus. Nearly everyone agreed that oranges, apples, oatmeal and chicken could be described as healthy, and also that chocolate-chip cookies, bacon, white bread and soda were not healthy.

“Twenty years ago, I think we knew about 10% of what we needed to know [about nutrition]," said Dariush Mozaffarian, Dean of the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. “And now we know about 40% or 50%.”

The researchers suggest that the differences in opinion are most likely due to the fact that scientists are better informed about current food trends, whereas consumers are more susceptible to the claims of food marketers.

Despite confusing data on what is classified as healthy and unhealthy, the overall opinion on the healthiest type of diet was “Mediterranean”; with 25% of nutritionists choosing it.

However, the most common answer, even among experts, was that there are “no special rules or restrictions” when it comes to choosing what to eat.

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Food Security

Related topics:
Food and WaterIndustries in Depth
Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Food Security is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

Our civilization’s survival depends on collective action

Gill Einhorn

December 5, 2024

4:10

4 ways to help farmers invest in climate-friendly agriculture

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum