Mary Hartley, RD, MPH, is the director of nutrition for Calorie Count, providing domain expertise on issues related to nutrition, weight loss and health. She creates original content for weekly blogs and newsletters, for the Calorie Count library, and for her popular daily Question-and-Answer section, Ask Mary. Ms. Hartley also furnishes direction for the site features and for product development.
At this point in time, 70 percent of American adults are trying to lose weight. That’s what the International Food Information Council Foundation (IFIC) found in its 2026 Food & Health Survey. IFIC is dedicated to communicating science-based information on nutrition for the public good. It is a not-for-profit foundation that does not lobby for political causes or corporate interests. They surveyed about 1,000 American adults for the fifth year in a row.
Trying to Lose Weight
It makes sense that 70 percent of Americans are trying to lose weight. Data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) shows that 65 percent of America’s adults are overweight or obese by Body Mass Index (BMI). At least we know we’re overweight, and we deserve some credit for that.
But here’s the problem: despite our best efforts, we are not giving weight loss our best shot. Weight loss is still a matter of calories-in vs. calories-out and calorie control is the way to see results. More calories in than out and you’ll gain. More calories out than in and you’ll lose. The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Obesity Working Group (OWG) recommends a “calories count” focus for its messages because of the importance of calories in weight control. (more…)