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Smoking, Soda, and So Much More
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Smoking, Soda, and So Much More

by Elizabeth Mendes

Â鶹´«Ã½AV's annual Consumption Habits survey provides information on everything from who's a vegetarian, to what Americans spend on food, to how many adults drink and smoke. Â鶹´«Ã½AV has been monitoring certain health behaviors in the United States for many years, enabling us to explore long-term trends, some of which date back to the 1940s.

Here are five key findings from the 2012 survey:

  1. : 20% of adults in the U.S. said they smoked a cigarette "in the past week," matching what Â鶹´«Ã½AV found in 2009 for the lowest level on record. This is also less than half what the smoking rate was back in the 1940s. (FYI, Â鶹´«Ã½AV and Healthways also track Americans' smoking habits daily as part of the Â鶹´«Ã½AV-Healthways Well-Being Index and find similar results.)
  2. : This rises to $180 a week for high-income Americans and falls as low as $127 a week for the low-income. Americans are also spending less on food now than in the past, when adjusting for inflation.
  3. : 48% of Americans drink at least one glass of soda per day and among those who do, the average daily amount consumed is 2.6 glasses.
  4. : 81% of Americans say obesity is an extremely or very serious societal problem, up from 69% in 2005. Americans are now more worried about the issue of obesity than they are about smoking.
  5. : 63% of Americans say a diet low in fat is more beneficial to one's health, while 30% believe low-carb is the better option.

Explore more health and well-being insights on the , including weekly, monthly, and quarterly data updates on Americans' life ratings, mood, health insurance status, and weight situation.


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