Fast food and childhood obesity
Fast foods affect children and youth often worse than adults. This is because most of the fast foods are targeted towards children and there is a sustained pattern of eating fast foods and eating out.
Children with a sustained excess energy imbalance intake of approximately 2% result in the development of obesity over time.
A 2% imbalance could mean an excess of only about 30 kilocalories per day. This corresponds to two-thirds of a chocolate cookie, fewer than two French fries or one-fourth of a can of soda.
Eating out is another major contributor to childhood obesity. Studies show that calorie content of out-of-home meals that children consumed was 55% higher than that of in-home meals.