Americans get about 55% of our calories from tasty, cheap — and unhealthy — manufactured foods, the latest data from CDC says. For kids, the percentage is even higher.
The consumption of ultra-processed foods is on a slow decline, though most Americans — and especially children — are getting most of their calories from unhealthy, manufactured foods, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The mean percentage of total calories consumed from ultra-processed foods (UFPs) eaten by everyone age 1 and older was 55%, during August 2021 and 2023, when the National Center for Health Statistics conducted its survey. The survey underscored a persistent difference by age; among those between the ages of 1 and 18, the mean consumption of UPFs was higher, 61.
