Most Americans get more than half of the calories in ultra -process foods, find the CDCs
NEWNow you can listen to News articles!
A new federal report found that most Americans obtain more than half of their daily calories of ultraprocessed foods, with hamburgers and sandwiches, sweet bakery products, salty snacks, pizza and sweetened drinks among the main sources.
The centers for the control and prevention of diseases in the United States said that between August 2021 and August 2023, young Americans “consumed 61.9% of their daily calories, on average, of ultra processed foods, while adults consumed 53.0% of their daily calories of ultra -processed foods.”
“Ultra processing foods tend to be hyperpallatable, dense in energy, low in dietary fiber and contain little or no integral food, while they have high amounts of salt, edulcorants and unhealthy fats,” according to CDC. “Ultra -process food consumption has been associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality from all causes.”
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., told News earlier this year: “We are poisoning ourselves and mainly comes from these ultra processed foods.”
5 daily foods and drinks silently damage their long -term health, say nutrition experts
French fries are shown in a store in New York, on March 25, 2021. (AP/Mark Lennihan)
The report said: “During August 2021, August 2023, the average percentage of total calories consumed of ultraprocessed foods among those over 1 year was 55.0%.”
Young children consumed less calories of ultra processed food than older children, according to the report. Adults 60 years or more consumed less calories from those sources than younger adults. Low income adults consumed more ultraprocessed foods than those with higher income.
The consumption of ultra prosecuted foods also seemed to immerse slightly in the last decade. Among adults, the total calories of these sources fell from approximately 56% in 2013-2014 and almost 66% for children in 2017-2018.
General Z is abandoning cereals in box at breakfast: “I couldn’t pay me to eat them”
Pizza was one of the main sources of ultra -processed food calories among young people, said the CDC. (Alex Wong/Getty images)
“The five main sources of calories of ultraprocessed foods among young people were sandwiches (including hamburgers), which contributed with 7.6%of total calorie, followed by sweet bakery products (6.3%), salty snacks (4.9%), pizza (4.7%) and sweet drinks (3.9%),” the report said.
“Similarly, the five main sources of ultraprocessed food calories among adults were sandwiches (including hamburgers), which contributed with 8.6%of total calorie, followed by sweet bakery products (5.2%), sweetened drinks (4.4%), salty snacks (3.4%) and bread, rolls and tortillas (3.1%),” he added.
Sweetened drinks were also a main source of ultra -processed food calories, according to CDC. (Istock)
Click here to get the News application
The US health officials said that there are concerns about whether current definitions “precisely capture” the range of foods that can affect health. The Food and Medicines Administration of the United States and the Department of Agriculture recently issued a request for information to develop a new uniform definition of ultra -processed foods for products in the United States food supply.
News contributed to this report.
Greg Norman is a News Digital reporter.