On an average day, Latino adults in the U.S. get roughly 11 percent of their calories from fast food, according to a recent survey by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. This is about the same percentage of fast food calories consumed by non-Latino whites.
While this percentage has been reduced since a report conducted in 2006, the recent survey was conducted between 2007 through 2010. The study was conducted by the Center for Disease Control (CDC); researchers collected detailed observations of the daily food and drink consumption of 11,000 adults, over a 24 hour period.
Fox News Latino states, “The study didn’t include the total number of fast food calories, just the percentage. Previous government research suggested that the average U.S. adult consumes about 270 calories of fast food a day — the equivalent of a small McDonald’s hamburger and a few fries.”
The study revealed that individuals who are a normal-weight, receive 10 percent of their daily calories from fast food, in comparison to 13 percent of daily calories received by obese individuals.
An additional correlation between fast food consumption and household income among young adults was also reported. Those with an income of $30,000 or less, received 17 percent of their daily calories from fast food, while young adults with an income of over $50,000 only receive 14 percent of daily calories from fast food.
Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University said, “Fast food is accessible and it’s cheap.”
