Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Jul 25;9(7):e103543.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0103543. eCollection 2014.

A new method to monitor the contribution of fast food restaurants to the diets of US children

Colin D Rehm  1 , Adam Drewnowski  2
Affiliations

A new method to monitor the contribution of fast food restaurants to the diets of US children

Colin D Rehm et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: American adults consume 11.3% of total daily calories from foods and beverages from fast food restaurants. The contribution of different types of fast food restaurants to the diets of US children is unknown.

Objective: To estimate the consumption of energy, sodium, added sugars, and solid fats among US children ages 4-19 y by fast food restaurant type.

Methods: Analyses used the first 24-h recall for 12,378 children in the 2003-2010 cycles of the nationally representative National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 2003-2010). NHANES data identify foods by location of origin, including stores and fast food restaurants (FFR). A novel custom algorithm divided FFRs into 8 segments and assigned meals and snacks to each. These included burger, pizza, sandwich, Mexican, Asian, fish, and coffee/snack restaurants. The contribution of each restaurant type to intakes of energy and other dietary constituents was then assessed by age group (4-11 y and 12-19 y) and by race/ethnicity.

Results: Store-bought foods and beverages provided 64.8% of energy, 61.9% of sodium, 68.9% of added sugars, and 60.1% of solid fats. FFRs provided 14.1% of energy, 15.9% of sodium, 10.4% of added sugars and 17.9% of solid fats. Among FFR segments, burger restaurants provided 6.2% of total energy, 5.8% of sodium, 6.2% of added sugars, and 7.6% of solid fats. Less energy was provided by pizza (3.3%), sandwich (1.4%), Mexican (1.3%), and chicken restaurants (1.2%). Non-Hispanic black children obtained a greater proportion of their total energy (7.4%), sodium (7.1%), and solid fats (9.5%) from burger restaurants as compared to non-Hispanic white children (6.0% of energy, 5.5% of sodium, and 7.3% of solid fat).

Conclusions: These novel analyses, based on consumption data by fast food market segment, allow public health stakeholders to better monitor the effectiveness of industry efforts to promote healthier menu options.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: CR has no conflicts to report. AD advises McDonald’s on nutrition issues and has also received grants, honoraria, and consulting fees from numerous food and beverage companies and other commercial and nonprofit entities with interests in nutrition. The University of Washington has received grants, donations, and contracts from both the public and the private sector. The authors have reviewed the PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials and concluded that this does not alter their adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Estimated energy (kcal) intake and population proportion by FFR segment and race/ethnicity, age 4–19 y.
†p<0.001; ‡0.001<p<0.01; 0.01<p<0.05 for difference, with non-Hispanic whites as the reference group. Significance testing conducted separately for population mean and population proportion (value in parentheses is the population proportion).
Figure 2
Figure 2. Estimated sodium (mg) intake and population proportion by FFR segment and race/ethnicity, age 4–19 y.
†p<0.001; ‡0.001<p<0.01; 0.01<p<0.05 for difference, with non-Hispanic whites as the reference group. Significance testing conducted separately for population mean and population proportion (value in parentheses is the population proportion).
Figure 3
Figure 3. Estimated intake of energy from added sugars (kcal) and population proportion by FFR segment and race/ethnicity, age 4–19 y.
†p<0.001; ‡0.001<p<0.01; 0.01<p<0.05 for difference, with non-Hispanic whites as the reference group. Significance testing conducted separately for population mean and population proportion (value in parentheses is the population proportion).
Figure 4
Figure 4. Estimated intake of energy from solid fats (kcal) and population proportion by FFR segment and race/ethnicity, age 4–19 y.
†p<0.001; ‡0.001<p<0.01; 0.01<p<0.05 for difference, with non-Hispanic whites as the reference group. Significance testing conducted separately for population mean and population proportion (value in parentheses is the population proportion).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Bauer KW, Larson NI, Nelson MC, Story M, Neumark-Sztainer D (2009) Fast food intake among adolescents: secular and longitudinal trends from 1999 to 2004. Prev Med 48: 284–287. - PubMed
    1. Mancino L, Todd J, Lin B-H (2009) Separating what we eat from where: Measuring the effect of food away from home on diet quality. Food Policy 34: 557–562.
    1. U.S. Food and Drug Administration: Backgrounder - Keystone Forum on Away-From-Home Foods: Opportunities for Preventing Weight Gain and Obesity. Available at: http://www.fda.gov/Food/LabelingNutrition/ReportsResearch/ucm082064.htm.
    1. Guthrie JF, Lin BH, Frazao E (2002) Role of food prepared away from home in the American diet, 1977–78 versus 1994–96: changes and consequences. J Nutr Educ Behav 34: 140–150. - PubMed
    1. Todd J, Mancino L, Lin BH (2010) The impact on food away from home on adult diet quality. Economic Research Report 2010. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources