Americans eat half their calories from ultra-processed foods, CDC says
Nutrition research has shown for years that ultra-processed foods make up a big chunk of the U.S. diet, especially for kids and teens.
For the first time, however, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed those high levels of consumption, using dietary data collected from August 2021 to August 2023.
Advertisement
6 Most Americans get more than half their calories from ultra-processed foods, according to a new federal report.
AP
The report comes amid growing scrutiny of such foods by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who blames them for causing chronic disease.
'We are poisoning ourselves and it's coming principally from these ultra-processed foods,' Kennedy told Fox News earlier this year.
Overall, about 55% of total calories consumed by Americans age 1 and older came from ultra-processed foods during that period, according to the report. For adults, ultra-processed foods made up about 53% of total calories consumed, but for kids through age 18, it was nearly 62%.
Advertisement
The top sources included burgers and sandwiches, sweet baked goods, savory snacks, pizza, and sweetened drinks.
Young children consumed fewer calories from ultra-processed foods than older kids, the report found.
Adults 60 and older consumed fewer calories from those sources than younger adults. Low-income adults consumed more ultra-processed foods than those with higher incomes.
Advertisement
The results were not surprising, said co-author Anne Williams, a CDC nutrition expert.
6 Overall, about 55% of total calories consumed by Americans age 1 and older came from ultra-processed foods during that period, according to the report.
Roman – stock.adobe.com
What was surprising was that consumption of ultra-processed foods appeared to dip slightly over the past decade. Among adults, total calories from those sources fell from about 56% in 2013-2014 and from nearly 66% for kids in 2017-2018.
Williams said she couldn't speculate about the reason for the decline or whether consumption of less processed foods increased.
Advertisement
But Andrea Deierlein, a nutrition expert at New York University who was not involved in the research, suggested that there may be greater awareness of the potential harms of ultra-processed foods.
6 The top sources included burgers and sandwiches, sweet baked goods, savory snacks, pizza, and sweetened drinks.
Shutterstock
'People are trying, at least in some populations, to decrease their intakes of these foods,' she said.
Concern over ultra-processed foods' health effects has been growing for years, but finding solutions has been difficult.
Many studies have linked them to obesity, diabetes and heart disease, but they haven't been able to prove that the foods directly cause those chronic health problems.
One small but influential study found that even when diets were matched for calories, sugar, fat, fiber and micronutrients, people consumed more calories and gained more weight when they ate ultra-processed foods than when they ate minimally processed foods.
6 For adults, ultra-processed foods made up about 53% of total calories consumed, but for kids through age 18, it was nearly 62%.
Meritxell Cid – stock.adobe.com
Research published this week in the journal Nature found that participants in a clinical trial lost twice as much weight when they ate minimally processed foods — such as pasta, chicken, fruits and vegetables — than ultra-processed foods, even those matched for nutrition components and considered healthy, such as ready-to-heat frozen meals, protein bars and shakes.
Advertisement
Part of the problem is simply defining ultra-processed foods.
The new CDC report used the most common definition based on the four-tier Nova system developed by Brazilian researchers that classifies foods according to the amount of processing they undergo.
6 Research found that participants in a clinical trial lost twice as much weight when they ate minimally processed foods — such as pasta, chicken, fruits and vegetables — than ultra-processed foods.
nerudol – stock.adobe.com
Such foods tend to be 'hyperpalatable, energy-dense, low in dietary fiber and contain little or no whole foods, while having high amounts of salt, sweeteners and unhealthy fats,' the CDC report said.
Advertisement
U.S. health officials recently said there are concerns over whether current definitions 'accurately capture' the range of foods that may affect health.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Agriculture Department recently issued a request for information to develop a new, uniform definition of ultra-processed foods for products in the U.S. food supply.
6 U.S. health officials recently said there are concerns over whether current definitions 'accurately capture' the range of foods that may affect health.
juliasudnitskaya – stock.adobe.c
In the meantime, Americans should try to reduce ultra-processed foods in their daily diets, Deierlein said.
Advertisement
For instance, instead of instant oatmeal that may contain added sugar, sodium, artificial colors, and preservatives, use plain oats sweetened with honey or maple syrup.
Read food packages and nutrition information, she suggested.
'I do think that there are less-processed options available for many foods,' she said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
41 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Why young Americans dread turning 26: health insurance chaos
But for years, Republicans have whittled away at the infrastructure of the original law. Long gone is the requirement to buy insurance. Plans sold in the online insurance marketplaces have no stringent quality standards. Costs keep rising, and eligibility requirements and subsidies are a moving target. Advertisement The erosion of the law has now created an 'insurance cliff' for Americans who are turning 26 and don't have a job that provides medical coverage. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Some, scared off by the complexity of picking a policy and by the price tags, tumble over the edge and go without insurance, in a health system where the rate for an emergency room visit can be thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars. Today, an estimated 15% of 26-year-olds go uninsured, which, according to an analysis by health research group KFF, is the highest rate among Americans of any age. If they qualify, young adults can sign up for Medicaid, the federal and state program for low-income Americans, in most but not all states. Advertisement But many buy cheap subpar insurance that leaves them with insurmountable debt following a medical crisis. Others choose plans with extremely limited networks, losing access to their longtime doctors and medicines. Often they find those policies online, in what has become a dizzyingly complicated system of government-regulated insurance marketplaces. They vary in quality from state to state; some are far better than others. But they generally offer few easily identifiable, affordable and workable choices. 'The good news is that the ACA gave young people more options,' said Karen Pollitz, who directed consumer information and insurance oversight at the Department of Health and Human Services during the Obama administration. 'The bad news is the good stuff is hidden in a minefield of really bad options that'll leave you broke if you get sick.' Publicly funded counselors called 'navigators' or 'assisters' can help insurance seekers choose a plan. But those programs vary by state, and often customers don't realize that the help is available. The Trump administration has cut funding to publicize and operate those navigator programs. In addition, changes to Medicaid eligibility in the policy bill passed by Congress in July could mean that millions more enrollees lose their insurance, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Those changes threaten the very viability of the online marketplaces, which currently provide insurance to 24 million Americans. In dozens of interviews, young adults described the unsettling and devastating consequences of having inadequate insurance, or no insurance at all. Damien Phillips, 26, a reporter at a West Virginia newspaper, considered joining the Navy to get insurance as his 26th birthday approached. Instead, he felt he 'didn't make enough to justify having health insurance' and has reluctantly gone without it. Advertisement When Ethan Evans, a 27-year-old aspiring actor in Chicago who works in retail, fell off his parents' plan and temporarily signed up for Medicaid, diminished mental health coverage meant cutting back on visits to his longtime therapist. Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., the first Generation Z member of Congress, was able to quit his job and run for office at 25 only because he could stay on his mother's plan until he turned 26, he said. Now 28, he is insured through his federal job. 'The ACA was groundbreaking legislation, including the idea that every American needs health care,' he said. 'But there are pitfalls, and one of them is that when young adults turn 26, they fall into this abyss.' Back in 2010, the decision to make 26 the cutoff age for staying on a parent's insurance was 'kind of arbitrary,' recalled Nancy-Ann DeParle, deputy chief of staff for policy in the Obama White House. 'My kids were young, and I was trying to imagine when my child would be an adult,' she said. Before that time, children were often kicked off family plans at much younger ages, typically 18. The Obama administration's idea was that by 26, young adults were most likely settling into careers and jobs with insurance. But if they still didn't have access to job-based insurance, Medicaid and the online marketplaces would offer alternatives, the thinking went. But over the years, the courts, Congress and the first Trump administration eviscerated provisions of the ACA. By 2022, a shopper on the marketplace run by the federal government had more than 100 choices, many of which included expensive trade-offs, presented in a way that made comparisons difficult without spreadsheets. Advertisement Young Invincibles, an advocacy group representing young adults, runs its own 'navigator' program to help young people choose health insurance plans. 'We hear the frustration,' said Martha Sanchez, who was until recently the group's director of health policy and advocacy. 'Twenty-six-year-olds have had negative experiences in a process that's become really complex. Many throw up their hands.' The ACA was supposed to help consumers find affordable, high-quality plans online. The legislation also tried to expand Medicaid programs, which are administered by states, as a way to provide health insurance to low-income Americans. But the Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that states could not be forced to expand Medicaid. Ten states, led mostly by Republicans, have not done so, leaving up to 1.5 million Americans, who could have qualified for coverage, without insurance. Even where Medicaid is available to 26-year-olds, the transition has often proved precarious. Madeline Nelkin of New Jersey, who was studying social work, applied for Medicaid coverage before her 26th birthday in April 2024 because her university's insurance premiums were more than $5,000 annually. But it was September before her Medicaid coverage kicked in, leaving her uninsured while she fought a chest infection over the summer. 'People tell you to think ahead, but I didn't think that meant six months,' she said. When Megan Hughes, 27, of Hartland, Maine, hit the cliff, she went without. An aide for children with developmental delays, she has a thyroid condition and polycystic ovary syndrome. She looked for a health care plan but found it hard to understand the marketplace. (She didn't know there were navigators who could help.) Now she can't afford her medicine or see her endocrinologist. Advertisement 'I'm tired all the time,' Hughes said. 'My cycles are not regular anymore at all. When I do get one, it's debilitating.' She is hoping a new job will provide insurance later this year. Traditionally, most Americans with private health insurance got it through their jobs. But the job market has changed dramatically since 2010, particularly in the wake of the pandemic, with the rise of the gig economy. Over 30% of people ages 18 to 29 said in recent surveys that they were working or have worked in short-term, part-time or irregular jobs. The ACA requires organizations with 50 or more employees to offer insurance to people working 30 hours per week. This has led to a growing number of contract employees who work up to, but not past, the hourly limit. In Oklahoma, Daisy Creager, 29, has had three employers over the last three years. Insurance was important to her, not least because her former husband had Type 1 diabetes. As she left the first of those jobs, her husband's endocrinologist helped the couple stockpile less expensive insulin from Canada, since they would be uninsured. After a few months, they bought a marketplace plan, but it was expensive and 'didn't cover a lot,' she said. When she found a new job, she dropped that plan, only to discover that her new insurance coverage didn't start until the end of her first month of employment. The couple would be uninsured for a few weeks. A few days later, she came home to find her husband unconscious on the floor, in a diabetic coma. After hovering near death in an intensive care unit for four days, he woke up and began to recover. Advertisement 'I think I've done everything right,' Creager said. 'So why am I in a position where the health insurance available to me doesn't cover what I need, or I can barely afford my premiums, or worse, at times I don't even have it?' Experts agree that the marketplaces need stronger regulation. In 2023, the federal government defined clearer standards for what plans in each tier of insurance should offer, such as better prescription drug benefits, defined co-pays for X-rays, or coverage for emergency room visits. Certain types of basic care, such as primary care, should require just a small co-pay for at least a small number of initial visits. Each insurer must offer at least one plan that complies with these new standards at every tier of coverage -- an 'Easy Pricing' option or 'standard plan.' Most plans on the marketplaces don't meet these criteria. Federal and state regulators had long planned to cull such 'noncompliant' plans, but gradually, fearing that doing so too quickly would scare insurers away from participating. But with the priorities of the new Trump administration now in focus, and a Republican majority in Congress, it's far from clear what course President Donald Trump, who sought to repeal the ACA outright in his first term, will take. There are hints: Subsidies to help Americans buy insurance, adopted during the Biden administration, are set to expire at the end of 2025 if the Republican-led Congress doesn't extend them. If subsidies expire, premiums are likely to rise sharply for plans sold on the marketplaces, leaving insurance out of reach for many more young adults. This article originally appeared in
New York Post
4 hours ago
- New York Post
Trying to lose weight? This common mealtime mistake could be sabotaging your progress
Lifestyle choices impact your weight, but your genes can tip the scales, too. New research suggests that people with a higher risk for obesity may be sabotaging their efforts to slim down by making a simple mealtime mistake. The good news? Scientists found an easy switch that can help fight back against what's written in your DNA — and it's not about changing what's on your plate. Advertisement 3 While lifestyle factors like diet and exercise are crucial, genetics can influence a person's predisposition to weight gain Creativa Images – The study followed nearly 1,200 overweight and obese adults in Spain taking part in a 16-week weight-loss program. About 80% were women, with an average age of 41. Researchers calculated each person's polygenic risk score for body mass index (BMI) — a genetic measure of their obesity risk. Advertisement They also tracked when participants ate, splitting them into 'early' and 'late' eaters based on the midpoint between their first and last meals of the day. After a 12-year follow-up, participants gained 2.2% more body weight for every hour that their meal midpoint was delayed. 3 Eating earlier in the day is linked to better long-term weight loss success, researchers found. ayselucar – The researchers also found a 'significant interaction' between meal timing and genetic risk scores. Advertisement Over the study period, participants with a high genetic predisposition for obesity saw their BMI increase by more than 2 points for every hour they delayed eating. No such link was observed in those with lower genetic risk. People with both a high genetic risk and later meal times had the highest BMI, while early eaters kept theirs lower. 'These findings suggest that early eating may be especially relevant for individuals with a genetic predisposition for obesity and not for others,' the study authors wrote. 3 Projections indicate that the majority of US adults will be overweight or obese by 2050. chathuporn – Advertisement The implications are serious. Across the country, more than 100 million adults have obesity, and over 22 million have severe obesity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This extra weight increases their risk for a wide range of chronic health conditions, including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and even some cancers. It also drives up healthcare costs. In 2019, adults with obesity spent an average of $1,861 more per year on medical care than those at a healthy weight. For those with severe obesity, excess costs topped $3,000 per person. Without strong interventions, the problem is only expected to grow worse. While surveys have found that many overweight Americans want to slim down, research shows that conventional methods like calorie restriction often fail to keep the weight off long-term. The study authors said that understanding the link between genetic risk for obesity and meal timing could pave the way for personalized prevention and targeted behavioral interventions in the future. One example they highlighted is precision nutrition, which designs eating plans based on a person's DNA, microbiome, and metabolic responses — moving beyond the one-size-fits-all approach.
Politico
6 hours ago
- Politico
Everything we know about the fatal shooting near CDC headquarters
Two CDC employees told POLITICO Friday evening that all staff at the agency were told to shelter in place. CDC Director Susan Monarez said Friday night that the agency is working with federal, state, and local authorities on the investigation. 'We at CDC are heartbroken by today's attack on our Roybal Campus, which remains on lockdown as authorities investigate the shooting,' Monarez said in a statement. 'A courageous local law enforcement officer gave their life, and another was injured, after a gunman opened fire on at least four CDC buildings. Political climate The shooting comes amid an already tumultuous time for CDC staff. Hundreds of agency employees received termination notices in April, and some got sporadically rehired . The Trump administration also has proposed slashing the agency's budget by roughly half . Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly raised concerns over the safety of the Covid-19 vaccine. Since being sworn in in February, the agency has stopped recommending the vaccine for pregnant people and to narrow the recommendations for healthy children. Kennedy said earlier this week that HHS would halt $500 million in funding for mRNA research , the technology that was used to create the first Covid-19 vaccines, citing safety concerns. The planned cancellation of contracts includes work with Emory University and Tiba Biotech. Proposals from Pfizer, Sanofi Pasteur, CSL Seqirus, Gritstone and others will also be rejected, according to HHS. Many public health experts pushed back on that decision, arguing that the technology is safe and a key tool for responding to future pandemics. One CDC official, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told POLITICO they were disappointed that neither Kennedy or President Donald Trump have publicly spoken about the shooting. On X, Kennedy reposted a statement from Monarez about the incident. 'As you might imagine, there is a lot of fear and anger among agency staff right now,' the official said. An HHS spokesperson said that Kennedy plans to address the incident Saturday morning.
