The percentage of adults consuming fast food varies with age, income, and race/ethnicity
THURSDAY, Oct. 11, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Overall, 36.6 percent of U.S. adults consumed fast food on a given day during 2013 to 2016, according to an October data brief published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics.
Cheryl D. Fryar, M.S.P.H., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Md., and colleagues evaluated data on the percentage of adults who consumed fast food in the United States using information from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
The researchers found that 36.6 percent of adults consumed fast food on a given day during 2013 to 2016. With increasing age, there was a decrease in the percentage of adults who consumed fast food, from 44.9 percent among those aged 20 to 39 years to 37.7 percent for those aged 40 to 59 years and 24.1 percent for those aged 60 years and older. Compared with non-Hispanic white, non-Hispanic Asian, and Hispanic adults, a higher percentage of non-Hispanic blacks consumed fast food. With increasing family income, the percentage of adults who consumed fast food increased. Men were more likely to eat fast food for lunch than women, while women were more likely to report eating fast food as a snack.
“The overall percentage of adults who consumed fast food decreased with age, increased with income, and was higher among non-Hispanic black persons compared with other race and Hispanic-origin groups,” the authors write.
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