Has fast food become worse for our health in the past 30 years?
Filled with empty calories and ultra-processed, fast food may increase the risk of obesity and cancer. While fast-food chains have ostensibly been trying to offer more healthful options, a new study finds that the health impact of their menus has not improved — to the contrary, in fact.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that, between 2013 and 2016, 36.6 percent of adults in the United States ate fast food on any given day.
Moreover, according to a study conducted by University of Connecticut researchers in 2018, around 74 percent of parents purchase unhealthful foods for their children in fast-food restaurants.
This, the investigators noted, is despite the fact that, from 2013 onward, some of the most popular fast-food chains committed to offering more healthful options in their children's menus.
Now, a new study suggests that most fast-food restaurant menus have not, in fact, become more healthful overall, despite the addition of some arguably more wholesome choices.
The researchers analyzed the variety, portion size, and nutrition of entrées, sides, and desserts offered by 10 of the most popular fast-food chains in the U.S. over a period of roughly 3 decades, based on the menus they made available at three points in time: in 1986, 1991, and 2016.
The team analyzed menus from: Arby's, Burger King, Carl's Jr., Dairy Queen, Hardee's, Jack in the Box, KFC, Long John Silver's, McDonald's, and Wendy's.
In the study paper — which appears in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics — the investigators explain their focus, noting that, "These restaurants were chosen because the nutritional information on the key nutritional variables of portion size, energy, and sodium were available for each of the 3 years being analyzed."
"Given the popularity of fast food, our study highlights one of the changes in our food environment that is likely part of the reason for the increase in obesity and related chronic conditions over the past several decades, which are now among the main causes of death in the U.S.," says lead investigator Megan McCrory, Ph.D.
