Americans cut back on fast food, but why?

American adults got 11 percent of their daily calories from fast food in 2010, down from about 13 percent four years earlier, a new study shows. Public education may have played a role, but so have pocketbook issues.

By Husna Haq,?Correspondent / February 21, 2013

In this June 2011 file photo, first lady Michelle Obama tends the White House garden in Washington, with a group of children as part of the 'Let's Move!' campaign.

Evan Vucci/AP/File

Enlarge

Whether it?s the economy, public education about fast food, or first lady Michelle Obama?s Let?s Move campaign, Americans appear to be cutting back on fast food.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition

American adults are consuming about 11 percent of their daily calories from fast food in 2010, down from almost 13 percent in 2006, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While overall caloric intake has not changed for American adults, the drop in fast food consumption has coincided with a leveling of obesity rates among adults.

?The drop is significant, statistically,? says one of the study?s lead authors, Cheryl Fryar, a health statistician with the National Center for Health Statistics, part of the CDC. ?Historically a lot of fast food has been high in fat, high in sodium ? and frequent fast food consumption is linked to weight gain.?

A separate report from the CDC found more good news among youths: American children and adolescents consumed fewer calories in 2010 than they did a decade before, the first decline in caloric intake among children in more than 40 years.

Americans have long had a troubled relationship with diet and weight ? two-thirds of American adults are considered overweight or obese, and about 17 percent of youths are considered obese ? and the CDC?s reports offered hope to many in the nutrition and health fields.?

?It?s a trend in the right direction,? says Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University. ?That?s good news. This is a cause for mild celebration.?

Among the studies? findings:

??During 2007-2010, adults consumed 11.3 percent of total daily calories from fast food, on average, compared with 12.8 percent between 2003-2006.

??Blacks consumed more of their calories from fast food than did whites or Hispanics: 15 percent compared to 11 percent.

? Young adults ages 20 to 39 also consumed higher rates of fast food than Americans 60 and over: 15 percent compared with 11 percent.

??Young black adults ages 20 to 39 had the highest rates of fast food consumption; they got 21 percent of their calories from fast food.

??Calorie consumption for boys ages 2 to 19 dropped 7 percent between 1999 and 2010, from 2,260 calories per day to 2,100.

??Girls? calorie consumption dropped 4 percent over the same period, from 1,830 calories to 1,760.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/r6eJs2CRvO8/Americans-cut-back-on-fast-food-but-why

Hollister old navy walmart black friday walmart black friday Target Black Friday PacSun apple store