A newly released survey from the CDC shows that the average daily intake of calories from fast foods has fallen among American adults (down from 13% from 2003-2006 to 11% from 2007-2010).
However, while Keith Ayoob, director of the nutrition clinic at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Manhattan believes that this falls in line with evidence that the “obesity epidemic in this country is beginning to plateau,” Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University thinks the figures are “implausibly low.” In fact, she believes that many of the 11,000 adults who participated in the survey may have under-reported their consummation of fries, burgers and shakes.
For the most part, results were hardly surprising, showing that young adults (ages 20-39) eat more fast food than their elders and obtained 15% of their calories from fast food, as opposed to 6% for those over 60. It also showed that blacks consumed more calories from fast foods than their white or Hispanic counterparts. In fact, according to the survey, African Americans got 21% of their daily calories from eating meals from KFC, Burger King, Wendy’s and Taco Bell, etc.
Still, Bethene Ervin, one of the authors of the CDC survey declined to draw any conclusions from the results stating,” We do not do public health. However, the lower calories from fast foods may indicate that the messages about eating healthier may finally be getting through to the general public
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