Calorie Counters


How accurate are you in estimating how many daily calories you consume when you're on a diet?
The department of nutrition at Georgia State University in Atlanta did a study of how well men and women estimate their calorie intake, both when they prepare their own meals and when they dine out.

As reported in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, the 78 people who participated in the study prepared their own meals for three days and sent out for food for another three. Then they had to estimate the number of calories they were consuming for both the home-cooked and prepared meals.

During the home-cooked portion, the study found, men underestimated their calorie intake by 11 percent and women underestimated by 13 percent.

But during the prepared-food part, it turns out, men underestimated even more -- by 13 percent. And women overestimated by about 1 percent.