A whopping one in three Americans is still consuming fast food daily.
Two new CDC reports show more than 75million adults over 20 gobbled down burgers, fries and other foods every day between 2021 and 2023.
A further 6million of those ate fast food as more than half their daily calories.
People under 40 were twice as likely to rely on fast food compared to seniors — a find that worries researchers.
Often packed with preservatives, chemicals, and low-quality fats, it’s thought that processed food quietly rewrites DNA, disrupts hormones, and fuels tumor growth.
Junk and fast foods are increasingly tied to deadly diseases like colon, breast, and pancreatic cancer.
Meanwhile, the data shows even kids aren’t spared.
Nearly one in three children and teens ate fast food on any given day, and it made up 14 percent of their total calories — fueling fears of early-onset disease later in life.
New CDC data suggests one in three Americans eat fast food linked to obesity, heart disease and cancer every day (stock image)
Yet despite the startling figures, fast food consumption is actually down compared to previous years.
The amount of calories consumed from fast food fell between 2014 and 2023 by about 15 percent.
And for kids, these figures dropped 18 percent from 2015 to 2023.
Dr Charles Carlsen, an OBGYN and chief technology officer of DRSONO Medical, told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s also possible that increased expenses and inflation are also making fast food harder for some families to afford.
‘There’s also more awareness of health difficulties associated with fast food such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease that’s probably encouraged many to be more discerning about their choices of food.
Fast food is ultraprocessed, meaning it’s packed with saturated fats, sugars and additives like emulsifiers and artificial dyes not typically found in home cooking.
As a result, they have been linked to heart disease, dementia, obesity and even some forms of cancer like colon cancer.
Recent studies have even suggested they could be responsible for over 120,000 early deaths in the US, more than top killers like fentanyl.
In particular, emulsifiers, which give milkshakes, sauces and processed meats a smooth and consistent texture, have also been linked to colon cancer. It’s thought that they can attack protective intestinal barriers, leading to inflammation.
Inflammation stokes cell division, which increases the risk of DNA damage and cancer-causing mutations forming.
Both reports were part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, published by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
‘Fast food’ was defined as ‘restaurant fast food/pizza.’
The above graph shows the percentage of adults 20 and older who eat fast food on a given day, as well as how much of their daily calories those meals make up
The data shows between August 2021 and August 2023, 32 percent of adults over 20 consumed fast food every day.
Of those, 11 percent got zero a quarter or less of their calories from fast food and another 12 percent ate fast food for up to half their diet.
Around nine percent, or 6million, turned to burgers, fries and shakes for over half their daily calories.
Roughly 30 percent of kids and teens picked up fast food every day, the data shows. About eight percent ate it for more than half their calories.
And teens in particular were worse off than younger children. They got about 15 percent of their daily calories from fast food on average, twice as many as kids under 11.
Dr Carlsen said: ‘Teenagers, who are increasingly independent and have more spending power, are more likely to turn to fast food. Unlike younger kids, teens tend to make their own eating decisions and are sometimes guided by convenience or peer conduct.
‘In addition, numerous teens have part-time jobs at fast food restaurants, which ingrains the behavior further.’
Younger adults generally ate more fast food than older generations. Fast food made up 15 percent of calories for adults ages 20 to 39 and eight percent for those 60 and older.
Dr Carlsen told this website: ‘Young adult citizens would be likely to lead busy lives and hence be attracted to convenient and quick consumption. Older citizens may also have obtained better lifestyles over time or be better funded to dine at home.’
The above graph shows the percentage of children ages two to 19 who eat fast food on a given day, as well as how much of their daily calories those meals make up
The above chart shows the average calories consumed from fast food per day among adults over 20 from 2013 to 2023. The data shows consumption overall has decreased
The report also looked at education levels.
Adults with least some college education were the most likely to eat fast food. Those who started but didn’t finish college got 13 percent of their daily calories from fast food compared to 11 percent who either never went to college or had a bachelor’s degree.
And adults who weighed more generally went through the drive through more than their thinner peers.
The CDC officials also looked at the relationship between weight and fast food consumption.
Obese Americans got about 14 percent of their calories from fast food compared to 10 percent for people with a normal weight. This is a 33 percent difference.
This aligns with mountains of research linking fast food and ultraprocessed food consumption to obesity.
However, both children and adults are eating less fast food than in years past, the data suggests.
Fast food consumption among adults decreased from 14 percent in 2013-2014 to 12 percent in 2021-2023, a 15 percent drop.
And 36 percent of kids and teens in 2015-2018 had fast food on a given day compared to 30 percent in 2021-2023, an 18 percent dip.
There were several limitations to the new reports, mainly including the lack of data on specific foods and any chronic health issues participants had.
Dr Carlsen said: ‘Though consumption at fast eateries is on the decline, it is still at the core of American consumption habits. Price, health-consciousness, and convenience are still leading determinants of consumption behavior, but slowly things are changing.’