A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that children and teens eat more fast food than in previous years.
The report found that between 2015 and 2018, young people got 13.8 percent of their daily calories from fast food, up from 12.4 percent from 2011 to 2012.
The data noted adolescents between the ages of 12 to 19 consumed a higher percentage of calories for fast food compared to children aged 2 to 11.
The study, conducted by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, also showed that young blacks and Hispanics consumed more calories from fast food than the non-Hispanic white demographic, with a third of Black and Spanish youths who consume fast food on any given day.
The study also showed the proportion of caloric intake of fast food increased by age, with children aged 2-11 years receiving 11.5 percent of their daily calories from fast food compared to those ages 12-19 who received 18 percent .
Although the report only shows data until 2018, Eliana Perrin, professor of pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine, told NBC News that the coronavirus pandemic this year is likely to increase confidence in fast food.
“These are not surprising findings when you think about how stressful families these days are for both time and money, and how fast food can be an easy option for stressed families,” Perrin said.
Consuming too much fast food is detrimental to children’s diets because of the high amount of calories combined with a lack of nutrients, which can later result in cardiovascular disease and obesity.
According to the CDC, obesity affects nearly 18.4 percent of children ages 6 to 11, and 20.9 percent of adolescents ages 12 to 19.
Frances Fleming-Milici, director of marketing initiatives at the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, said one of the main problems thanks to the excessive consumption of fast food is targeted advertising towards young people.
“We saw a huge increase in exposure for toddler and children’s ads for certain fast-food restaurants,” she told NBC, with a report examining the number of television ads seen from 2007 to 2016.
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