New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveals that both children and adults in the U.S. are eating less fast food than they did a decade ago.
According to the CDC’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, kids aged 2 to 19 consumed an average of 11.4% of their daily calories from fast food between August 2021 and August 2023. This is a noticeable decline from nearly 14% in 2013 and 2014.
Adults also showed a similar trend. People aged 20 and older reduced their fast food calorie intake from about 14% in 2013 and 2014 to 11.7% in the most recent data.
Fast food, for this study, included food categorized as “restaurant fast food/pizza” based on participants’ survey responses.
About 30% of children and teens ate fast food on any given day during 2021 to 2023, compared to over 36% between 2015 and 2018. The study found no difference in fast food consumption between boys and girls or between adult men and women.
This trend toward healthier eating seems to have started before Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made diet improvements a government priority. Despite recent staffing changes at the Department of Health and Human Services, the CDC survey team remains active and continues its research.
This decline in fast food consumption could signal a shift toward healthier eating habits among Americans.
