A Look at How Fast Food Affects U.S. Adults

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Bowman SA, Vinyard BT: Fast-food consumption of U.S. adults: Impact on energy and nutrient intake and overweight status. J Am Coll Nutr 23:163-168, 2004.

What is the problem and what is known about it so far?

Americans are working more hours than they used to. More women and mothers have jobs outside their home. With less time to fix meals, people are more likely to eat fast food. The fast foods they choose may be less healthy and could lead to obesity.

Who was studied?

Researchers studied 9,872 adults, age 20 and older.

How was the study done?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) does large surveys to find out how and where people are eating. Researchers compared results from two USDA surveys that were done 5 years apart. The surveys asked people what they ate on 2 separate days.

Of all the people in the new study (that is, everyone in the two USDA surveys), 5,861 did not eat fast food on either day. Of the rest, 2,623 ate fast food on one day, and 838 ate fast food on both days.

Researchers wanted to see if the number of days people ate fast food made a difference in whether they were eating a healthy overall diet.

What did the researchers find?

In the first of the two surveys, one in six people (about 16%) had said they ate fast food. Five years later, in the second survey, one in four people (or 25%) said they ate fast food.

The people in the surveys who ate fast food took in more calories, more total fat, and more saturated fat. They ate very little fruit or milk and fewer important nutrients. They also drank a lot of "regular" soda with sugar. They had higher body mass index (BMI, a measure of obesity) than people who didn’t eat fast food. And they were slightly more likely to be overweight.

What were the limitations of the study?

Researchers figured out peoples' BMI from what they said was their height and weight. These are called self-reported results. They generally are not as true because people may lie or not be sure of their exact height or weight.

Also, studies that follow what people eat over a longer period of time would better show how often people eat fast food.

What are the implications of the study?

Adults who are watching their weight should be careful not to eat too many calories. Fast-food places tend to serve large portions of high-calorie foods. So people could go to fast-food places less often to stay on a healthy diet. And when people do go to fast-food restaurants, they could keep track of what they eat if the restaurants posted nutrition information.