Food Habits To Work On

They read nutrition labels, fret about their expanding waistlines and pay attention to portions. But fat and calories still perplex them. They know they should move more but are mostly inactive. They recognize the new food pyramid but choose what to eat based on taste and price rather than health.

Sounds familiar? It should. It's a snapshot of Americans that emerged from a new national survey of consumer behavior and attitudes.

The majority of those questioned correctly understand that their weight, diet and physical activity influence their health, according to the survey, which was sponsored by the International Food Information Council Foundation, a Washington-based group funded by food, beverage and agricultural companies.

Knowledge is one thing. Putting it into practice is another. But there's good news: The survey found that more than half of consumers reported having improved their diets in the past six months by eating fewer calories and by adjusting the foods they ate. Nearly two of every three who made improvements said they had done so after talking with a health professional or family and friends, or simply after reading food labels.

Here are the survey highlights, along with easy ways to make course corrections:

Calorie quandary. Nearly 90 percent of the 1,000 respondents had no idea how many calories they should consume daily to maintain their weight. About half couldn't even wager a guess. Only a third understood how extra calories, no matter in what food they are consumed, contribute to weight gain. Simple fix: To find your caloric balance, take your weight and multiply by 10. So, if you weigh 150 pounds, that's 1,500 calories. This is how much energy you need just to keep breathing. If you live a mostly sedentary life, add 20 to 40 percent more calories; 40 to 60 percent more if you are active. Or do what the federal government does: Assume that most adults need 2,000 calories a day for a stable weight.

Slim on healthy fat facts . Saturated fat and trans fat were correctly fingered as unhealthy by most of those surveyed. About half said they try to eat fewer saturated fats; nearly as many are attempting to cut down on the trans fats found in many commercially prepared fried and baked foods. But the message to eat more healthy fat is still missed by nearly 40 percent of those polled. They didn't know that polyunsaturated and mono-unsaturated fats found in olive and canola oils, healthy margarine, nuts and avocados are healthy. About a third, however, are correctly trying to eat fewer foods that contain hydrogenated oil or partially hydrogenated oils. Simple fix : At home, reduce use of processed foods, which are more likely to have saturated or trans fat. At restaurants, skip or skimp on the fries, chicken nuggets and fried fish filets, which are often loaded with trans fats. At the grocery, read labels to avoid foods high in cholesterol and saturated fat and trans fat. Finally, remember that the recommendation is not to increase total fat consumption, but simply to swap good fats for the bad. Advice is still to keep total fat intake at about 30 percent of total daily calories.

Sugarcoating . About half of those polled say they are carbohydrate-conscious, paying close attention to how many and what types of carbs they eat. The vast majority know that glucose, sucrose, high-fructose corn syrup, lactose and fructose are types of sugar. But fewer respondents were aware of "added sugars" in many processed foods and just one in six reported eating the recommended two cups of fruit and 2 1/2 cups of vegetables daily. Simple fix : Get carbs first from fruit and vegetables, which contain complex carbohydrates that are less likely to send blood sugar soaring. Cut back on foods with added sugar such as sweetened cereal, cookies, candy, ice cream and soft drinks.

Controlling intake. About half of those surveyed say they are trying to improve their diets. The most common strategies: portion control and reducing calories eaten. Simple fix: To help with portion control, keep a kitchen scale and measuring cups and spoons handy in the kitchen. Serve food on smaller plates. Skip eating family style with large platters of food on the table that make it easy to take extra helpings. At restaurants, split entrees or turn one meal into two by taking home leftovers. Another option: Order two appetizers instead of a large entree. At fast-food restaurants, choose small sizes or the kids meal rather than super-sized portions.

Underestimating girth. Two-thirds of respondents say that they are overweight, extremely overweight or obese -- a percentage consistent with the latest government figures. Even so, when height and weight information supplied by the participants was used to calculate body mass index, nearly a third of participants who described themselves as being at an ideal weight were actually overweight, while 75 percent who said they were merely overweight qualified as obese. Simple fix : Do a little spring preening by climbing on a scale to check your weight. Use a free electronic calculator to determine your body mass index at http://nhlbisupport.com/bmi , which will also tell you whether you are at a healthy weight, overweight or obese. ·

Join Sally Squires, author of the recently published "Secrets of the Lean Plate Club" (St. Martin's Press) live online from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. today athttp://www.washingtonpost.com/leanplateclub, where you can also subscribe to the free LPC weekly e-mail newsletter.