Western pattern diet

Fast food is a typical example of food consumed in a Western pattern diet.

The Western pattern diet, also called Western dietary pattern or the meat-sweet diet, is a dietary pattern originally identified through principal components analysis or factor analysis to identify commonly associated foods in the diets of several independent cohorts in the United States, with a very similar "Western" pattern also observed in a cohort of Australian adolescents. It is characterized by higher intakes of red and processed meat, butter, high-fat dairy products, eggs, refined grains, white potatoes, french fries, and high-sugar drinks. It is contrasted with a "prudent" diet found in the same populations, which has higher levels of fruits, vegetables, whole-grain foods, poultry and fish.

Obesity among various developed countries

The western-versus-eastern dichotomy has become less relevant as such a diet is no longer "foreign" to any global region (just as traditional East Asian cuisine is no longer "foreign" to the west), but the term is still a well-understood shorthand in medical literature, regardless of where the diet is found. Other dietary patterns described in the medical research include "drinker" and "meat-eater" patterns. Because of the variability in diets, individuals are usually classified not as simply "following" or "not following" a given diet, but instead by ranking them according to how closely their diets line up with each pattern in turn. The researchers then compare the outcomes between the group that most closely follows a given pattern to the group that least closely follows a given pattern.

Standard American Diet

The "Standard American Diet" (S.A.D.) is a similar term, specifically used to describe the stereotypical diet of Americans. The typical American diet is about 50% carbohydrate, 15% protein, and 35% fat. These macronutrient intakes fall within the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges (ADMR) for adults identified by the Food and Nutrition Board of the United States Institute of Medicine as "associated with reduced risk of chronic diseases while providing adequate intakes of essential nutrients," which are 45-65% carbohydrate, 10-35% protein, and 20-35% fat as a percentage of total energy. However, the nutritional quality of the specific foods comprising those macronutrients is often poor, as with the "Western" pattern discussed above. Complex carbohydrates such as starch are believed to be more healthy than the sugar so frequently consumed in the Standard American Diet.

For polyunsaturated fat, the high levels of omega-6 fatty acids compared to omega-3 fatty acids in the Western diet is believed to contribute to autoimmune and inflammatory diseases as well as cancer and cardiovascular disease.

A review of eating habits in the United States in 2004 found that about 75% of restaurant meals were from fast-food restaurants, where as only 1% were fine food dining restaurants. Nearly half of the meals ordered from a menu were hamburger, French fries, or poultry — and about one third of orders included a carbonated beverage drink. From 1970 to 2008, the per capita consumption of calories increased by nearly one-quarter in the United States and about 10% of all calories were from high-fructose corn syrup.

Health concerns

Compared to the "prudent" diet, the Western pattern diet, based on epidemiological studies of Westerners, is positively correlated with an elevated incidence of obesity, death from heart disease, cancer (especially colon cancer), and other "Western pattern diet"-related diseases. Breast cancer epidemiologists have found that women with a more Western diet have a nominally increased risk of breast cancer that is not statistically significant.

See also

• European cuisine (also called Western cuisine)
• Fast food
• Healthy diet
• Junk food
• Mediterranean diet
• Metabolic syndrome
• Nutritional gatekeeper

External links

• Report on Obesity 2014