America is known for its big portion sizes and even bigger obesity problem — and this map reveals why. People in the U.S. consume an average of 3,868 calories per day, the second-highest number of any country in the world. It’s eclipsed only by Bahrain, in the Middle East, where people consume more than 4,000 calories a day on average. Oxford University-based OurWorldInData compiled figures on 184 countries based on average calories consumed per person. Out of the 184 countries surveyed, 173 consumed more than 2,000 calories per day, above the worldwide recommended daily average of 1,800 calories (the U.S. recommends 2,000 calories a day). At the other end of the scale, the Central African Republic at 1,641 calories per day had the lowest calorie consumption in the world, followed by Burundi (1,696) and Madagascar (1,770).
