Study Finds Chips Pack on Pounds

Potatoes, especially chips, are the biggest cause of gradual middle-age weight gain, researchers said based on a new study. Their analysis included more than 120,000 people from 3 long-running studies of health professionals. They were asked regularly about what they ate and how much they weighed. In 20 years, the average person gained nearly 17 pounds. Researchers said food choices contributed most of that. Potato chips did the most damage. People gained about 1.7 pounds every 4 years for each ounce of potato chips they consumed daily. Non-chip potatoes added 1.3 pounds in 4 years for someone who ate a daily serving. French fries were the biggest culprit within this group. The weight gain was about 1 pound for someone who drank a soda daily and 0.4 pounds for sweets or alcohol. The New England Journal of Medicine published the study.