Most of the American diet is comprised of calories from ultraprocessed foods, which have been linked to a myriad of poor health outcomes and are a key target in US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Health Again agenda.
A new report published Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that there has been some improvement in recent years, but ultraprocessed foods still account for more than half of the calories consumed by both children and adults in the United States.
From August 2021 to August 2023, about 53% of the calories consumed by adults in the US came from ultraprocessed foods, according to the CDC report. The share was even higher among children, who got about 62% of their diet from ultraprocessed foods on average. That’s a decrease from 2017-2018 when ultraprocessed foods comprised 56% of the adult diet and nearly 66% among children.
Ultraprocessed foods are typically high in calories, added sugar, sodium and saturated fat and low in fiber. They have been linked to weight gain and obesity and the development of chronic conditions including cancer, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and depression. Such foods may even shorten life.
“There are no health benefits associated with eating ultraprocessed foods,” said Dr. Tasha Stoiber, a senior scientist with Environmental Working Group, a health advocacy organization. She did not review the new CDC report.
Calories from ultraprocessed foods can add up quickly because they tend to be extra tasty and dense, with a large amount of calories in small amount of food, experts say.
“It’s unrealistic to not eat any ultraprocessed foods,” Stoiber said, referencing celebrations that call for cake and ice cream and the general value in enjoying food. “But as much as we can shift our diet to whole foods, that’s going to be better for us.”
People also eat what is available to them, experts say. Up to 70% of the US food supply is made up of ultraprocessed foods, and they’re often cheaper than making a dish from scratch.
The new CDC report found that diets of the wealthiest adults had a significantly smaller share of calories from ultraprocessed foods than those with lower family incomes. But there was not as much variation among children based on family income.
Dr. Jamie Chriqui, a senior associate dean at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health who has spent decades researching nutrition policy, says that many low-income food assistance programs are centered around children – and there is precedent for restricting ultraprocessed foods in these social programs.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP – previously known as food stamps – is an exception, she said. SNAP is geared more toward the whole family, and there has historically been little restriction on how those benefits are used.
With SNAP, “there is no incentive to purchase one thing over another,” said Chriqui, who did not review the new CDC report.
“If I’m a family and I’m using my SNAP dollar, I’m going to purchase whatever I can to extend the money as far as I can,” she said. “So if they are in a community where healthier options are more expensive than the ultraprocessed foods, they’re probably going to default to the ultraprocessed foods.”
Kennedy has encouraged states to submit waivers that would restrict certain foods from SNAP benefits, with at least a dozen states filing for changes so far this year.
Still, ultraprocessed foods have comprised a significantly larger share of the diets of children than adults in the US for at least the past decade, according to the new CDC report.
In May, a MAHA report on children’s health identified ultraprocessed foods as a key driver of the “chronic disease epidemic in children.” The report was rife with errors, including citations to some studies that didn’t exist, but experts agree that children are especially vulnerable to the negative effects of ultraprocessed foods.
“When you’re young, that is when you are forming food habits which you’re likely to have throughout the rest of your life. So it’s a critical time of development that sets you up for all the rest of your life stages,” Stoiber said. “If that’s what you’re used to, you may continue to eat those foods…leading to not just the short-term exposure, but a longer-term exposure.”
Children are also often targeted with advertising for these foods, she said.
Burgers and other sandwiches were found to be the largest contributors of calories from ultraprocessed foods for both kids and adults, followed by sweet bakery products. Together, these two foods accounted for nearly one in every seven calories consumed in the average American diet, according to the CDC report.
The report also found savory snacks and sweetened beverages to be among the top calorie contributors, along with pizza for children.
For the new CDC report, dietary habits were based on responses to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, with foods assessed according to NOVA, a recognized system of categorizing foods by their level of processing.
Last month, the US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Agriculture announced plans to collect more information and data on ultraprocessed foods with a goal to help establish a more formal definition.
“Ultra-processed foods are driving our chronic disease epidemic,” Kennedy said in a statement at the time. “We must act boldly to eliminate the root causes of chronic illness and improve the health of our food supply. Defining ultra-processed foods with a clear, uniform standard will empower us even more to Make America Healthy Again.”
CNN’s Sandee LaMotte and Andrea Kane contributed to this report.
