Ultra-processed foods make up the majority of kids' diet, CDC report finds
About 62% of kids' and teens' daily calories came from ultra-processed foods, the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics found, compared with 53% for adults.
The report marks the first time CDC has provided estimates about how much ultra-processed foods make up Americans' diets.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in May cited ultra-processed foods among his list of top issues that need to be addressed to curb what he says is an epidemic of childhood chronic diseases.
Last month, the Department of Health and Human Services took the first step to formally define 'ultra-processed foods' — a move, experts say, that could open the door to regulation, including what types of food are eligible for food assistance programs. Diets high in ultra-processed foods have been linked to a number of health problems, including depression, Type 2 diabetes and early death.
Previous administrations have also tried to take action on ultra-processed foods, but those efforts have focused mostly on labeling and individual ingredients — such as added sugars and trans fats — rather than on regulating or classifying foods based on their level of processing. In January, during the Biden administration, the Food and Drug Administration proposed requiring a new label on the front of most packaged food and drinks that would alert consumers to how much saturated fat, salt and added sugar they contained.
Thursday's report was based on findings from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, from August 2021 to August 2023.
The report's lead author, Anne Williams, a researcher with the National Center for Health Statistics, said the agency identified ultra-processed foods using the NOVA classification system — a framework developed by Brazilian researchers that's the most commonly used tool to evaluate processed foods. NOVA defines ultra-processed products as 'industrial creations' made with little — if any — whole foods.
The top source of ultra-processed foods for both kids and adults was sandwiches, such as burgers, hot dogs and PB&Js, Williams said. That was followed by baked goods, salty snacks and sugary drinks.
The report found that adults with higher incomes tended to eat fewer ultra-processed foods.
It also found that intake of ultra-processed foods for both kids and adults dropped slightly from 2017-18 to August 2021–23. For adults, the decline started even earlier, going back to 2013–14. Williams cautioned that the decline so far has been small — a 56-calorie difference over roughly a decade.
Marion Nestle, professor emerita of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, said the CDC's findings align with what outside researchers have found about Americans' eating habits.
Nestle said parents tend to gravitate toward ultra-processed foods for their kids because they're easy to throw in a school lunch bag.
But, she added, probably the biggest reason kids eat so many ultra-processed foods is that the food industry heavily markets it to them.
'They're the most profitable products in the supermarket, and the companies sell them, they market them directly to kids,' Nestle said. 'They're seen as cool and are iconic and you're lucky to eat them, because that's how they're marketed.'
The term 'ultra-processed food' was created around 2009 and has primarily been used for research purposes, said Susan Mayne, who was director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in both the Biden and the first Trump administrations.
Mayne said research has shown that eating ultra-processed foods in general is linked to increased caloric intake and weight gain and that it is associated with greater risk of chronic diseases.
The problem with defining ultra-processed foods, she said, is that not all of them are linked to greater health risks. In fact, some — like certain yogurts, whole grain breads and cereals — are actually associated with reduced risks of chronic diseases like colon cancer. States like California have tried to address that by coming up with a definition of 'particularly harmful' ultra-processed foods, she added.
The NOVA classification system also has limitations, as it doesn't directly measure processing, Mayne said. Rather, it uses additives and specific ingredients as a proxy for the level of processing.
'FDA is engaging in a public process to attempt to define UPF, which is a good first step,' Mayne said in an email, referring to ultra-processed foods. 'But it would be important to repeat studies to demonstrate that the new definition is as or more predictive of chronic disease risk than existing definitions before it could be used for policies.'
HHS hasn't said when it plans to formally define 'ultra-processed.'
Nestle said she hopes the Trump administration also targets marketing.
'These are highly convenient products, and the kids will eat them because the kids have been trained to eat them,' she said.
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MARGARET BRENNAN: What were they asking you to do? DR. ADAMS: They were asking me to make a public statement because they felt under attack. They didn't know if this was going to continue. They were scared, and they wanted someone, someone who they felt had had a public voice to go out there and say this is wrong. Violence is wrong. This is not the answer. MARGARET BRENNAN: Well, absolutely, I think all of us want to be careful in the language we use and precise, certainly on this program. And I think what you were referring to are some of what Secretary Kennedy said when he was a presidential candidate. But even in office, the FDA commissioner on this program said he wrote an article "why the people don't trust the CDC." The Secretary himself has said in the past, the CDC is a cesspool of corruption. You, to be clear, want the leaders of our health institutions to come out and say they have confidence in the CDC now? DR. ADAMS: Exactly. I wrote a recent op-ed that is in STAT News where I talked about this. As leaders, we have to be responsible with what we're saying and how we're saying it. We have to understand people are listening. And when you call the CDC a cesspool, when you say I will hold people responsible, when you make claims that have been proven false time and time again about safety and efficacy of vaccines, that can cause unintended consequences. And so while I don't know Secretary Kennedy personally, and I don't want to make, make assertions about his character, I will say based on his actions and his rhetoric he is, he's adding, he's fanning the flames that lead to situations like we saw at the CDC. MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you about health policy, because days earlier, Secretary Kennedy made an announcement that the U.S. is halting $500 million for vaccine research into that technology known as mRNA. You're very familiar with it because it was used during Operation Warp Speed to very quickly get that COVID vaccine. Secretary Kennedy said, though, mRNA vaccines quote, "don't work against upper respiratory infections." Do you know what he means? And what does stopping this research do for pandemic preparations? DR. ADAMS: Well, that- that's simply not true. We know that- that by the most conservative estimates, over 2 million lives have been saved because of mRNA technology. It helped us develop COVID-19 vaccines in record time. And it's, quite frankly, President Trump's greatest achievement. It's fascinating to me that in this conversation about whether he should receive the Nobel Prize for something, the thing that he should be considered for the Nobel Prize for, his health secretary is trying to undermine. For folks who may not be familiar, though, Margaret, mRNA stands for messenger mRNA, it's a natural molecule that's in all of our bodies. It's like a recipe card that tells your body how to make a protein. And this idea, again, helps us develop vaccines and new treatments for everything from cancer, melanoma, which my wife has, to HIV, to better flu vaccines, and Zika. The- these are advances that are not going to happen now. People are going to die because we're cutting short funding for this technology. MARGARET BRENNAN: It's interesting you talk about President Trump's great achievement there, because he was asked by my colleague, Nancy Cordes, about Operation Warp Speed, and this is what he said this week. Take a listen. [BEGIN SOUND ON TAPE] DONALD TRUMP: Operation Warp Speed was, whether you're Republican or Democrat, considered one of the most incredible things ever done in this country. The efficiency, the- the way it was done, the distribution, everything about it was- has been amazing. [END SOUND ON TAPE] MARGARET BRENNAN: What would have happened in 2020 if we didn't have mRNA vaccines? DR. ADAMS: If we did not have mRNA vaccines, the best experts at the time, Bill Gates, Tony Fauci, were saying it would have taken at least 18 to 24 additional months to get a vaccine. The record before that, Margaret, was six years to get a vaccine using the technology that Secretary Kennedy said he wants to go back to, whole virus technology. And so, as I mentioned, by the most conservative estimates, at least 2 million lives were saved. Many people say that up to 20 million lives were saved because of the vaccines. It is President Trump's greatest achievement, bar none. MARGARET BRENNAN: Senator Bill Cassidy, who I think you know, Republican, a doctor, he voted for Secretary Kennedy's confirmation, said it's "unfortunate the Secretary just canceled a half a billion dollars worth of work, wasting the money which is already invested," in other words, not getting it back. And he said it's "conceding to China this important technology." Here's the thing, Secretary Kennedy did say, mN- mN- excuse me, Secretary Kennedy did say this technology is helpful against cancers. Can you have it both ways? Can you stop the investment but then still take the parts of it and sort of preserve that? DR. ADAMS: Well, that's a great question, and it's absolutely the case that you cannot denigrate mRNA technology. Even if you do develop a new technology for other areas, people aren't going to trust it. There aren't- they aren't going to take it. And the way research works is that a lot of what we've learned about mRNA technology, and developing the COVID vaccines, has led to the excitement, the innovation, the advancements, which now present opportunities for cancer. So it risks stalling process- progress in many of the most promising areas of modern medicine. MARGARET BRENNAN: Dr. Adams, thank you for your time this morning. DR. ADAMS: Thank you so much. I appreciate it. And if you have questions about vaccines, talk to your doctor, because unfortunately, our current secretary is not spreading information that is knowledgeable, that's appropriate, and that is- not fanning the flames that cause situations like happen- happened at the CDC. MARGARET BRENNAN: Dr. Adams, I appreciate your time. We'll be back in a moment.
