According to news on the BBC website, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition have issued a draft report saying that recommended daily calorie counts may have been wrong for the last 18 years.
I don’t know when we first started talking about calorie intake, but back when I was a child – long before the current figures were set – I’m pretty sure the daily allowances being discussed were far higher – around 5,000 for men and 3,500 for women. Since 1991, though, they’ve been down at 2,000 calories for women and 2,500 for men.
Now, however, it seems these figures could be increased by up to 16%.
Apart from the fact that the current ‘obesity epidemic’ implies most of us are already eating far too much, two things particularly caught my eye about the story:
Firstly, the quoted comment from the National Obesity Forum was made by Tam Fry. Is it just me, or does the name seem somehow appropriate?
Secondly, I was amused by the phrase:
A 16% increase would mean that adults could safely consume an extra 400 calories a day, equivalent to an average sized cheeseburger.
I suspect the lolcats – or their hoomins – will be pleased.
don't confuse the narrator 