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Each day, over one-third of children, adolescents eat fast food

Over 34% of children and adolescents aged between 2 and 19 years consumed fast food on any given day from 2011 to 2012, according to recently published data from the CDC.

Researchers used data from the 2011 to 2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to assess trends in fast food calorie consumption by age, sex, race, poverty status and weight status.

Results demonstrated that on any given day, fast food was consumed by 34.3% of children and adolescents aged 2 to 19 years.

On average, 12.4% of children’s and adolescents’ daily calorie intake came from fast food restaurants.

Researchers found an association between age and fast food consumption, with adolescents aged 12 to 19 years consuming 16.9% of daily calories from fast food, compared with only 8.7% among children aged 2 to 11 years.

Non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic black and Hispanic children and adolescents consumed significantly more calories from fast food compared with non-Hispanic Asian children and adolescents, according to the study.

No association between daily calories from fast food and sex, poverty status or weight status was seen. – by Casey Hower