Americans are still thinking a lot about what they eat, but they're thinking about it differently than in the past.
In particular, fewer people are dieting and fewer people are focused on the number of calories they're consuming.
Instead, more people who are trying to achieve or maintain a healthy weight are focusing on finding whole, unprocessed foods.
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An annual survey of American eating habits conducted by NPD Group found that 39 percent of Americans now say they look for foods that tout "all natural" ingredients and that "healthy" is the top characteristic that people say they want to see more of at restaurants.
And, for the first time, the annual survey found that sugar was the number one item that Americans were trying to avoid.
That behavior coincides with recently-released federal dietary guidelines that told Americans that sugar should amount to no more than 10 percent of their daily calories.
One of the most notable reductions in sugar intake has come from decreased consumption of soda. NPD reports that the average American drank 111 sodas in 2015, compared to 133 in 2015.
That is consistent with other research that has shown soda drinking has declined by about 25 percent in the past 25 years.
Meanwhile, it appears people are replacing soda with water. NPD reports that a quarter of all beverage "occasions" come from people drinking tap water at home.
Overall, however, people are consuming fewer beverages overall. The survey found that Americans reported 10 percent fewer "beverage occasions" in 2015 than in 2006.
A similar study the group conducted in 2012 found that the percentage of Americans who said they were on a diet had declined from 36 percent in 1991 to only 22 percent
But that's not to say people are no longer paying attention to calories. In fact, the survey found that calories and sugar were tied for the most common item that people look at on a package's nutrition label.
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