Products - Data Briefs - Number 375- August 2020

Children are getting more of their daily calories from fast food

As public health experts and nutritionists consider how to combat childhood obesity in the U.S., a new CDC report finds that children are getting more of their daily calories from fast food. Here's more from the report, which looked at 2015-2018 data: 

• Overall trends: More than a third of children and adolescents (ages 2-19) reported eating fast food for at least one meal per day during the study period. Around 14% of daily calories were from fast food, up from 11% in 2009-2010. 
• By age and sex: Girls and those ages 12-19 consumed a higher percentage of fast food as part of their daily calorie intake than boys and those ages 2-11. 
• By race: Across all age groups, Black and Hispanic children and adolescents got more of their daily calories from fast food than those from other racial groups.