How Many Calories do Americans Eat Per Day?

The average American eats about 3,800 calories a day and more than 800 pounds (about 360 kg) of dairy products a year — about half of which are neither milk nor cheese. Included in those figures are 24 pounds (about 11 kg) of ice cream per person per year and about 11 pounds (about 5 kg) of yogurt per person per year. Less than one-fourth of Americans report getting the recommended five servings of fruit and vegetables per day.

Other facts on nutrition:

• The average global daily calorie intake is about 2,800 calories per person. Countries with the lowest caloric intakes per person are Eritrea, Chad, and Somalia, each of which have an average daily caloric intake of about 1,500 calories per person.


• Perhaps unsurprisingly, the U.S. has the highest proportion of overweight and obese adults in the world, with about a third of the U.S. population considered obese and an additional third considered overweight.


• It is believed that more than a billion people in the world are chronically undernourished, most of which are the Asia-Pacific region and Sub-Saharan Africa.