Calorie Posting
• Calorie-Posting Legal Timeline
• Calculating calories for certain alcoholic beverages (PDF)
• Calorie-Posting Compliance Guide for Restaurant Operators (PDF)
• Calorie Quiz Flipbook (PDF)
• Obesity Detailing Kit
• Calorie Education Campaign Posters (PDF)
• Calorie Education Brochure for Consumers (PDF)
Other languages:[Español] (PDF)
Page Contents
How Many Calories Do People Need Each Day?
Most adults need about 2,000 calories a day. The exact number depends on a person's sex, age, and physical activity level, as shown in the table.
Eating or drinking more calories than the body uses causes weight gain - which can lead to obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
Most people underestimate the calories they consume, especially for less-healthy items. As a result, it is easy to take in too many calories without realizing it. For example, some large sodas have as many as 600 calories. Some main dishes may contain 1600 calories - about three quarters of the calories most adults should eat in a whole day. Just 100 extra calories a day leads to 10 pounds of extra weight in a year.
To learn more about smart food choices, enter your age, sex and activity level in the My Pyramid Plan at www.mypyramid.gov.
back to top
Learn More About Healthy Weight
Download these documents to learn more about why achieving and maintaining a healthy weight is important to your health:
back to top
