Potato chips piling on the pounds, study finds

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LOS ANGELES - Blame the potato chip. It's the biggest demon behind that pound-a-year weight creep that plagues many of us, a major diet study found. Bigger than soda, candy and ice cream.

And the reason is partly that old advertising cliche: You can't eat just one.

"They're very tasty and they have a very good texture. People generally don't take one or two chips. They have a whole bag," said obesity expert Dr. F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer of the St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York.

What we eat and how much of it we consume has far more impact than exercise and most other habits do on long-term weight gain, according to the study by Harvard University scientists. It's the most comprehensive look yet at the effect of individual foods and lifestyle choices like sleep time and quitting smoking.

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The results are in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

Weight problems are epidemic. Two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese. Childhood obesity has tripled in the past three decades. Pounds often are packed on gradually over decades, and many people struggle to limit weight gain without realizing what's causing it.

PICTURES: 12 foods that pack on pounds

The new study finds food choices are key. The message: Eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts. Cut back on potatoes, red meat, sweets and soda.

"There is no magic bullet for weight control," said one study leader, Dr. Frank Hu. "Diet and exercise are important for preventing weight gain, but diet clearly plays a bigger role."

Doctors analyzed changes in diet and lifestyle habits of 120,877 people from three long-running medical studies. All were health professionals and not obese at the start. Their weight was measured every four years for up to two decades, and they detailed their diet on questionnaires.

On average, participants gained nearly 17 pounds (8 kilograms) over the 20-year period.

For each four-year period, food choices contributed nearly 4 pounds (2 kilograms). Exercise, for those who did it, cut less than 2 pounds (1 kilograms).

Potato chips were the biggest dietary offender. Each daily serving containing 1 ounce (about 15 chips and 160 calories) led to a 1.69-pound uptick over four years. That's compared to sweets and desserts, which added 0.41 pound.

For starchy potatoes other than chips, the gain was 1.28 pounds. Within the spud group, french fries were worse for the waist than boiled, baked or mashed potatoes. That's because a serving of large fries contains between 500 to 600 calories compared with a serving of a large baked potato at 280 calories.

Soda added a pound over four years. Eating more fruits and vegetables and other unprocessed foods led to less weight gain, probably because they are fiber-rich and make people feel fuller.

For each four-year period, these factors had these effects on weight:

• An alcoholic drink a day, 0.41-pound increase.
• Watching an hour of TV a day, 0.31-pound increase.
• Recently quitting smoking, 5-pound increase.

People who slept more or less than six to eight hours a night gained more weight.

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and a foundation. Several researchers reported receiving fees from drug and nutrition companies.

"Humans naturally like fat and sweet," said Dr. David Heber, director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition, who had no role in the study. "That's why we always tell people to eat their fruits and vegetables."

Pi-Sunyer, who also wasn't involved in the research, said the study gives useful advice.

"It's hard to lose weight once you gain it," he said. "Anything that will give people a clue about what might prevent weight gain if they follow through with it is helpful."

The federal government earlier this year issued new dietary guidelines advising people to eat smarter. This month, it ditched the food pyramid -- the longtime symbol of healthy eating -- in favor of a dinner plate divided into four sections containing fruits, vegetables, protein and grains.

13 Photos

Yowza! 12 foods that pack on pounds

[brnfream]

Are they gonna put an sin tax on tater chips now?

[Okiefolks]

I wonder how much of my tax money went to funding this study...potato chips will make you fat??? Who'da thunk?

[gruven13777]

"There is no magic bullet for weight control," said one study leader, Dr. Frank Hu

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Actually there is. Unhook the feedbag around your neck and stop consuming more calories than you burn. It's pretty simple. It is completely physically impossible to gain weight if you are running a calorie deficit.

[Hosheen]

Bingo! You are perfectly on target. It isn't even higher math is it? Eat less, move more, everything gets better.

Exercise alone will not make you lose weight. As you pointed out, you still must consume fewer calories than you burn. The exercise will improve your fitness, but you still have to control your intake.

[Nate650]

With chemicals and highly processed ingredients in food (e.g., trans fat, HFCS) these days it's not as simple as the "calorie in calorie out" theory. More important than how much you eat is what you eat. The most simple and healthy diet is to only consume what was available 200 years ago.

[Jaylah54]

OMG, now all the right wingers will start screaming about all those lazy people buying potato chips with their food stamps!!!

[bobnjersey]

[Potato chips were the biggest dietary offender. Each daily serving containing 1 ounce (about 15 chips and 160 calories) led to a 1.69-pound uptick over four years.]
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the billion dollar idea would be to come up w/ a potato chip that burns more calories in it's metabolic breakdown than it adds to your system. this way ... eating potato chips would actually contribute to weight loss instead of gain.

http://lifehacker.com/331319/fifteen-foods-that-burn-more-calories-than-they-contain

[Jaylah54]

"Negative calorie foods" are actually just a myth. It would be nice if you didn't run around spreading your mis-information.

[bobnjersey]

[It would be nice if you didn't run around spreading your mis-information.]
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it would even nicer if you stuck it up your azz ... since i don't care what you think.

[allisonburness]

What?! Potato chips are making us fat?! If only someone had discovered this sooner...

[rf35]

Of course the only realistic answer is to ban potato chips.

[displeased2]

or tax them.

[tsigili]

That should be obvious, but in fact, the number one culprit of all is french fries.

The number of people eating mostly burgers and fries, in fast food restaurants, is simply staggering.

[ampsanne]

I agree with you about the french fries. Probably worse than the potato chips. Frying those hamburgers and deep frying those fries in oil will probably put on more pounds than chips. But another thing is with the economy, as people are unemployed and probably can't afford to eat the way they use to. So in order to make their stomach feel full is to eat chips, fries or junk food to make up for it. Their no longer getting a balanced meal as before. And with nothing to do they just lay around all day.

[brnfream]

And how much did this "study" cost the taxpayer to tell him/her what they already know?

[greennnnnn-2009]

No study needed to be conducted at all. Anyone with a brain knows that if one eats chips each and every day, one's gonna gain weight. DUH. I'm really surprised it's not more than a pound and a half over 4 years, is all.

[jose_z1]

So is the FDA going to post dead fat people warnings on the bags now?
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[ccdsswrkr08]

Thats what I'm talkin about!!!!!

[uktena]

...with graphic photos