36% of Kids Eat Fast Food on an Average Day

Fast food is a big part of the daily diet of American children. On an average day in 2015–18, more than one-third of children aged 2 to 19 (36 percent) ate fast food, according to the National Center for Health Statistics' National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The survey is an in-person interview asking a nationally representative sample of respondents (or, in the case of children, their parents) to recall their food intake over the past 24 hours. The survey defines fast food as food sourced from a fast-food or pizza restaurant.

Overall, fast food accounted for 14 percent of children's daily calorie intake in 2015–18. It accounts for a greater percentage of daily calories among teens aged 12 to 19 (17 percent) than among children aged 2 to 11 (11 percent). By race and Hispanic origin, fast food accounts for 21.5 percent of daily calorie intake for Blacks teens, the most of any demographic segment. Among Hispanic teens, the figure is 18.5 percent, and among non-Hispanic whites 14.8 percent.

Fast food consumption of children aged 2 to 19, average day 2015–18
64% consumed no fast food
11% consumed less than 25 percent of calories from fast food
14% consumed 25 to 45 percent of calories from fast food
11% consumed over 45 percent of calories from fast food

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Fast Food Intake among Children and Adolescents in the United States, 2015–2018

37% Eat Fast Food on an Average Day

Fast food is a staple of the American diet. More than one-third (37 percent) of adults aged 20 or older eat fast food on an average day, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The NCHS defines fast food as food sourced from a fast-food restaurant or pizza. Young adults are most likely to eat fast food, older adults least likely...

Percent eating fast food on an average day
Aged 20 to 39: 45%
Aged 40 to 59: 38%
Aged 60-plus: 24%

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Fast Food Consumption among Adults in the United States, 2013–2016

Fast Food Purchases in Past 7 Days

Among Americans aged 15 or older, the 58 percent majority purchased prepared food from a deli, carry-out, fast-food restaurant, or food delivery service in the past seven days. Here are the percentages by age...

Purchased fast food in past 7 days
Aged 15 to 17: 52.1%
Aged 18 to 24: 67.4%
Aged 25 to 64: 60.9%
Aged 65-plus: 42.3%

Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Americans' Eating Patterns and Time Spent on Food: The 2014 Eating and Health Module Data

Daily Calories from Fast Food

Eating out accounts for more than one-third (34 percent) of the daily calories consumed by Americans aged 2 or older, according to the USDA's Economic Research Service. That share was just 18 percent in the mid-1970s. Behind the rise of eating out (or what the USDA calls "food away from home") is the growing importance of fast food to the American diet. The fast-food share of daily caloric intake has nearly tripled in the past three decades...

Fast-food share of daily caloric intake
2011-12: 15.8%
1977-78:   5.7%

Fast food has become essential for busy workers and parents. Among lower income households in 2011-12, fast food provided 16.4 percent of daily calories. For higher-income households the fast-food share was 15.3 percent. Fast food accounts for a much larger share of children's daily caloric intake than school food. Children obtained 14.3 percent of their daily calories from fast food in 2011-12 (up from less than 4 percent in 1977-78) and about 7 percent from school food.

Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Linking Federal Food Intake Surveys Provides a More Accurate Look at Eating Out Trends