Are you eating right? Most of us think so, our poll finds

Consumer Reports News: January 06, 2011 10:13 AM

When it comes to nutrition, most people talk a good game—but have poor follow through. That's what we found when we surveyed more than 1,200 adults in November about their eating habits.

Nine out of 10 respondents said their diets were "somewhat," "very," or "extremely" healthy. Yet 43 percent said they drank at least one sugared drink a day. And only 53 percent said they limited sweets and sugar each day, 51 percent limited their daily fat intake, 22 percent weighed themselves most or every day, and 15 percent regularly tracked their calories. No wonder, then, that people often underestimated their weight: One in three people who said they were at a healthy weight actually had a body mass index that put them in the overweight range.

And when we asked about the fiber and calorie content of food, most people knew that two slices of whole-wheat bread had more fiber than a cup of Cheerios—but not that a Dunkin' Donuts glazed doughnut had fewer calories than a Dunkin' Donuts plain bagel. (But then, who would, really?)

—Sue Byrne, senior editor

Read more about how to get fit in 2011 and make small changes to keep the pounds off. And see also our story on weight-loss pills and a taste-test of a week's worth of Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem's diet meals.

—Joel Keehn