Swedes are eating (much) more
Swedes’ eating habits have changed dramatically since the 1980’s. The average Swede eats 10% more calories than he used to and on top of that moves less. An alarming trend.

“This type of increase in consumption is something we haven’t been able to prove earlier,” says Professor Claude Marcus at the Karolinska Institutet, who is also Director at Rikscentrum för svår övervikt hos barn (National Center for obesity in children). Professor Marcus blames childhood obesity partially on the soda drinking, but also snacking.

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“Many ought to decrease their soda drinking and go back to eating breakfast, lunch and dinner,” he says. But it’s not only children who are eating more: During the period 1980 to 2009, not only did Swedes increase their caloric intake with 10%, they also drank more alcohol. Of the calories, 29% came from bread and cereals, 21% from milk and dairy products, 13% from meat and 16% from sugar, candy, ice cream and soda. During the last three decades, our intake in alcohol has increased from 13 gram per person and day (in 1980) to 14.7 gram per person and day (in 2009). Our wine drinking has more than doubled from 9.5 liter (2.5 US gallons) per person and year (in 1980) to 23.1 liter (6.10 US gallons) per person and year (2009). Swedes have also increased their pasta habits: In 1980 we ate 2.3 kilos (0.6 US gallons) pasta per year, today the number is 9.4 kilos (2.4 US gallons). And our candy habits have increased as well, by 54% during the same period. The only thing we eat less of is ice cream; in 2009 we consumed kilos 10.4 kilos (2.7 US gallons) worth of ice cream, compared to 12.8 kilos (3.3 US gallons) in 1980. The number of people suffering from being overweight or obese has doubled. The statistics come from Jordbruksverket.