Americans Favor Low-Fat Diet Over Low-Carb

The total cost of obesity to U.S. companies is estimated at $13 billion a year — (Image credit: Woman on scales image via Shutterstock)

Despite the popularity of low-carb diets, more Americans still try to avoid fat than carbs, according to a new poll.

The results show that 56 percent of Americans say they actively avoid fat in their diets, compared with 29 percent who say they avoid carbohydrates, according to the poll, conducted this month by Gallup.

However, the percentage of Americans who try to avoid fat has dropped slightly in recent years, by about 8 percentage points since 2004, according to Gallup. This trend may reflect recent research that has called into question the view that fat is the main culprit in weight gain, and instead points to processed carbohydrates as the key drivers, Gallup says. Last month, Time magazine ran an article with the headline "Ending the War on Fat," which discussed this research.

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Rachael is a Live Science contributor, and was a former channel editor and senior writer for Live Science between 2010 and 2022. She has a master's degree in journalism from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program. She also holds a B.S. in molecular biology and an M.S. in biology from the University of California, San Diego. Her work has appeared in Scienceline, The Washington Post and Scientific American.