The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released a report that shows children in the U.S. get about 12 percent of their calorie intake from fast food items.
Fast food contains high amounts of calories and, according to experts, the consumption of such goodies including pizza, burgers and french fries, which are all too attractive for kids, is a significant contributory factor to the presence of overweight children. In the last 10 years, the rate of childhood obesity, which is a national health concern in the U.S., has exhibited a sturdy number of 17 percent.
The researchers of the CDC study performed their investigation by surveying about 3,100 kids aged two to 19 years old and their parents about the food items that they or their children had consumed over the last 24 hours. The study conducted between 2011-2012 yielded average findings, which means that experts included participants who had a wide extent of fast food intake – from those who ate little fast food to those who ate too much.
After the collation of data, the experts were able to discover that 17 percent of the participants under the adolescent age bracket obtain their daily calories from fast food items, while only 9 percent of younger children were found to have the same finding.
The researchers also looked into the impact of fast food calorie consumption, taking into consideration the race of the participants. They found that approximately 12 percent of the calorie intake of kids who belong to the white, black and Hispanic descent come from fast food. For Asian children, the rate is much lower, with only 8 percent of the study subjects' daily calorie consumption coming from fast food.
The income brackets of the kids' families were also considered and although some studies have found discrepancies, the experts in the recent CDC study were not able to note any significant differences between the groups.
The current study did not present the total calorie intake of children daily but according to previous governmental investigations, kids consume approximately 1,900 calories in a day. If the results of the recent study would be applied to this, the researchers said that about 245 calories consumed by kids daily come from fast food.
According to the researchers, the numbers obtained in the study are somewhat similar to that of the 1990s. At least, the rates are not going up, commented Cheryl Friar, one of the study authors. Over the last 10 years, fast food-derived calorie intake of kids has become steady at 12 percent, which is marginally higher than the adult rate of 11 percent.
