Citations:

  • Ultra-processed foods now make up 57% of the average American’s calorie intake. (Citation) 

  • Almost half of the calories in the average American diet today—46.6%, compared to 37.3% in 1970—are derived equally from two categories: flours and grains, and fats and oils (Citation)

  • 7,300% - Increase in Consumption of High Fructose Corn Syrup since 1970 (Citation)

  • 93% of Americans are failing key metabolic health markers (Citation)

  • The average adult spends over 6 hours per day sitting (Citation)

  • 80% of Americans do not meet recommended physical activity guidelines (Citation)

  • 77% of Americans are ineligible for military service (Citation)

  • 300% - Increase in Texas Medicaid spending between 2002-2022 (Citation)

  • More than 75% of our health care spending is on people with chronic conditions and more than 7 out of 10 deaths among Americans each year are from chronic diseases (Citation)

  • Over the last 50 years, obesity rates have increased from 14.5% (1971) to 42.8% (2018). 

  • Diagnosed diabetes cases have increased from 1.6 million in 1958 to over 37 million in 2022, with 96 million more Americans estimated to have pre-diabetes.

  • Between 2000 and 2021, the number of deaths from Alzheimer’s disease in the U.S. more than doubled, increasing 141%. The number diagnosed with dementia increased 373% among 30- to 44-year-olds, 311% among 45- to 54-year-olds and 143% among 55- to 64-year-olds from 2013 to 2017.

  • Antidepressant use among U.S. adults has seen a staggering rise over the past three decades, increasing from approximately 2.5% in the early 1990s to 13.2% by 2018—a more than fivefold increase. Between 2011 and 2021, the percentage of high school students reporting persistent sadness or hopelessness rose from 28% to 42%, with those seriously considering suicide increasing from 16% to 22%.

  • Autism has increased dramatically over the past two decades. In 2000, approximately 1 in 150 children were diagnosed with ASD; by 2020, this number had risen to 1 in 36.

  • The total fertility rate in the United States has dropped from 3.7 births per woman in 1960 to just 1.6 in 2020, sperm counts dropped by 1.2% per year from 1973 to 2000, accelerating to 2.6% per year from 2000 to 2018, and the rate of reported miscarriages has increased 1% a year since 1970.