US average consumption is not an appropriate comaprison, because the general US average would cover all age demographics. Older people tend to eat less.
It's also true that people tend to self-report lower than they really consume. But that isn't exactly earth-shattering news to scientists who work in the field. They know about it & know how to adjust their interpretations of the research accordingly.
I agree with your point... just want to mention that I actually eat about that much (sub-2000 calories. I'm a white, middle class American). Of course, I have to try rather hard to stay that low here in the States but I feel great, doing it.
[insert bro-science disclaimer here] The volume of food you eat may be "normal" but the calorie density might be lower. The trick to increasing or decreasing calorie intake without feeling like you are stuffing yourself or starving is to keep the volume pretty much the same and tweak the calorie density.
Do you happen to have any links to descriptions of the densities of various foods? I've been aware that this is a good strategy for a while, but haven't been able to find anything that systematically discusses various food types and how they rank (as opposed to individual tidbits such as, hey, carrots have very few calories but are pretty bulky, so munch away).
I don't have a list, but I've developed a feel by tracking calories on MyFitnessPal. Over time you notice what food helps you hit your calorie goals while also being good (which is extremely subjective).
That is the average amount of calories consumed in certain sub-Saharan African countries along with very poor places such as Haiti.
Alternatively, in the US the average daily consumption is somewhere around 3,770 calories and the UK around 3,440.
Scroll all the way to the bottom of this list to see countries which match the average reported in this study: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_food_energ...
Under reporting or just lower historical consumption combined with the age groups, it just does not match up to typical Western behavior today.