Fast food and obesity
Study links fast food to overall poor nutrition and obesity risk
Fast food consumption has risen 500 percent since 1970 and today
pervades nearly every segment of society, including some public
school cafeterias. At the same time, obesity among children has
tripled—yet the fast food industry insists it bears no responsibility
for the epidemic. In January, however, researchers led by David
Ludwig, MD, director of the Optimal
Weight for Life Program, published a study in the journal
Pediatrics that strengthens the scientific footing of
that link.
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Typical fast food meals are high in refined starch and added
sugar, resulting in a high glycemic index—that is, a rise
in blood glucose occurring after consumption of a food containing
carbohydrates, which may contribute to excessive weight
gain. In addition, some studies have shown that high glycemic
load meals increase hunger and thus food consumption over
the course of a day.
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The goal of the study was to look at patterns of fast food consumption
in children and determine whether fast food adversely affects
diet quality in ways that might increase risk for obesity. The
study used data from 6,212 children and adolescents surveyed in
the Department of Agriculture’s Continuing Survey of Food Intake
and the Individual Supplemental Children’s Survey. The surveys
found that children who ate fast food consumed more total and
saturated fat, more total carbohydrates and added sugars, less
dietary fiber, and more calories per gram of solid food than children
who did not eat fast food. In addition, they consumed less milk
and fiber, and fewer fruits and non-starchy vegetables.
Thirty percent of the children in the survey ate fast food on
any given day during the survey, and they ate an average of 187
calories a day more than those who did not eat fast food. These
additional calories could account for an extra six pounds of weight
gain per year, according to Dr. Ludwig. Study co-authors include
other Children’s obesity researchers and collaborators from the
U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Harvard School of Public
Health.
February
2004
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