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By Kelly Young
Edited by Susan Sadoughi, MD, and Richard Saitz, MD, MPH, FACP, DFASAM
Roughly 37% of American adults eat fast food on any given day, according to data from the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics.
Researchers used the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to examine trends in consumption of fast food (defined as restaurant fast food or pizza) in 2013–2016. Among the other findings, when participants were asked what they'd eaten in the past 24 hours:
The proportion who ate fast food declined with increasing age, from 45% among those aged 20–39 to 24% among those aged 60 and up.
The percentage of fast-food consumers rose with increasing income: 32% of lower-income earners, 36% of middle-income earners, and 42% of those with a higher income.
Fast food for lunch was more popular for men than women, while women more commonly ate fast food for snacks.
Fast-food consumption was more common among non-Hispanic black adults (42%) than other races.
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LINK(S):
CDC NCHS data brief (Free)
Background: Physician's First Watch coverage of fast food eating habits of American youth (Free)