Unhealthy eating in wake of Sept. 11 attacks.

• Position: Your Life - Brief Article

A survey commissioned by the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) examined whether people made unhealthy changes in the way they eat in the wake of the terror attacks on New York and Washington. "We've been hearing a lot about how the stress, grief, and anxiety that accompanied the attacks inspired `sweeping shifts' in the way Americans eat, but these numbers don't quite bear that out," indicates Melanie Polk, AICR Director of Nutrition Education. "Instead, most Americans told us they have not made any changes in how much they eat or which foods they choose." However, the survey did show that those who have made changes have done so in ways that may impact their long-term health, a fact that concerns AICR experts.

Almost 20% of those surveyed said they had found themselves eating more "comfort foods" like mashed potatoes and gravy, fried chicken, and macaroni and cheese. About 13% said they had been eating more rich, hearty foods, such as steak, stews, or lasagna. Sugar cravings are also on the rise, with 19% saying they have been eating more sweet, sugary foods like desserts and ice cream.

Such foods tend to be high in fat and calories, and low in much-needed nutrients. They lack the protective potential of phytochemicals, natural substances found in plant foods that have been shown to fight cancer and other diseases.

"`Hearty' and `high in fat' are not the same thing," Polk says. "Meals can be satisfying and healthy at the same time, particularly if they feature a larger portion of vegetables and grains, which satisfy hunger and carry a smaller fat and calorie payload than meat or cheese."

John Foreyt and his colleagues at the Behavioral Medicine Center at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex., study how emotional responses impact patterns of food consumption. He believes the results of the AICR survey are dismaying, but understandable. "It's exactly the response you expect to see. When we are anxious or fearful, we fall back to food we associate with times of lowest stress--that is, with childhood" Foreyt is less inclined than Polk, though, to see any positive message in the survey's findings. "It's true that about 80% of the country hasn't been affected, but if 20% are eating more high-fat, high-calorie foods, that's still over 56,000,000 people."

Both Foreyt and Polk warn that any move toward foods that are higher in fat and calories should be a temporary...