A new survey commissioned by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reveals some remarkable facts and figures about American (and, by extrapolation, North American) eating habits. One of the most shocking, to me, was that one third of Americans eat at least one Fast Food Meal every day!
A typical Fast Food meal: The classic Burger King Whopper – including Large Fries
and a Coke Classic. That’s a huge dose of Sugar, Fat and Salt…
A team from the CDC’s tracked and digested National Center for Health Statistics, under Lead Researcher Cheryl Fryar, mined data from in-person government surveys conducted with thousands of U.S. adults between 2013 and 2016.
Some further findings…
Actually, 37 percent of those polled reported having eaten at least one Fast Food meal in the pevious 24 hours.
It appears that folks taper off heir Fast Food intake as they age. Some 45 percent of 20-30 year olds said they had eaten Fast Food the previous day, but only 38 percent of those aged 40-60 admitted to doing so. And, for those over age 60, only 24 percent said they’d eaten Fast Food in the past 24 hours.
Social and racial differences…
Black males came out the biggest fans of Fast Food, with some 42 percent saying they’d partaken in the past day. Overall, Black diners (over 40 percent) were more likely to have consumed Fast Food in the past day than white diners (38 percent), Hispanics came close behind at 35 percent and those of Asian heritage clocked in at 31 percent.
Overall, men ate more Fast Food than women.
Surprising correlations with income…
The survey revealed that the perception of many – that lower income people eat more Fast Food – is wrong. In fact, only 32 percent of lower income people polled reported eating Fast Food in the past day, while 36 percent of middle income subjects and 42 percent of higher income survey respondents did so.
The reasons may be that higher income people have faster, busier lives and don’t want to take the time to sit down for informal meals. It’s also possible that convenience is an overall factor mitigating in favour of Fast Food consumption.
Health concerns abound…
“On any given day, over one-third of Americans consume fast food – that’s a lot of Big Macs and Pizza,” Registered Dietician Malanie Boehmer told MedicalXPress.com. “These findings remind us that fast food companies have figured out a way to conveniently fit into our daily routine, despite their [products’] negative health implications.”
Boehmer suggests that healthy eating advocates and the medical establishment mobilize to, “beat fast food companies at their own game,” and reverse the trend toward consuming more Fast Food. “If we can offer healthier options that are just as convenient and just as affordable and just as delicious, then it’s a win for everybody.”
Fast Food, “has been associated with increased intake of calories, fat and sodium,” the CDC team notes. That, in turn, is associated with weight gain and, eventually, obesity. Obesity, itself, is considered a major contributor to a whole laundry list of serious diseases and conditions, not the least of which are Heart Disease, Type 2 Diabetes and Metabolic syndrome. And obesity-abetted diseases coast the health care system hundreds of billions of dollars every year.
Dietary professionals told MedicalXPress that a good guideline – no matter how much Fast Food you eat – is to set a goal of cutting that amount in half.
Let me know how you do, with that…
~ Maggie J.