We Are What We Eat

Eating habits vary in different parts of the world, and in a recent study conducted by Massive Health, intriguing statistics and facts relating eating habits to health are broken down with comprehensive infographs.

After reviewing 7.68 million food ratings over 50 countries, they broke down the data into five sections: perception, when, where, what, and who.

• How do you perceive what is on your plate?
  According to the study, the worse the food actually is, the less actually we rate it, and 72 percent of foods are rated healthier by the eater than by everyone else. For example, someone else's bacon is considered 3.2 times more unhealthy than the person judging them's bacon is.

• How does the time of day or day of week affect your health?
  Unsurprisingly, dinner is on average 15.9 percent less healthy than breakfast, and Saturday dinners are 10.1 percent more unhealthy than any other day of the week.

• How does your location determine your health?
  The study found that in the United States, the east and west coasts are overall healthier than those who live in the midwest and the south. With that, the top three healthiest cities are all on eastern or western coasts — New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. If you eat regularly at home versus at a restaurant, you are 12.7 percent healthier.

• What is everyone eating?
  New York City has an overall health rating of 83.6 percent. New Yorkers consume 6.7 times more coffee than any other city, and eat two times more oatmeal. In comparison, Philadelphia, with a lower overall health rating of 28.6 percent, consumes 4.8 times more pretzels and 3.7 times more bagels than any other city. Worldwide, the most popular food is salad, in front of chicken, cheese, rice, tea, and coffee.

• How do your family and friends influence your health?
  In general, the company you keep says a lot about you yourself, and it is no different in regard to your health. Friends influence what we choose to eat by 34.5 percent, and we are 57 percent more likely to be obese if our friends are obese because "being surrounded by overweight people can change what we perceive as the norm. It raises our tolerance for obesity in both others and ourselves."

In order to keep your health in check and under control, simply be mindful of what and how much you are consuming.