Cited by 175Obesity, Physical Activity, DietNutritional Studies and DietNutrition, Health and Food Behavior

The association of fast food consumption with poor dietary outcomes and obesity among children: is it the fast food or the remainder of the diet?

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Poti, Jennifer M, Duffey, Kiyah J, Popkin, Barry M·2014·The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Abstract

Background Although fast food consumption has been linked to adverse health outcomes, the relative contribution of fast food itself compared with the rest of the diet to these associations remains unclear.Objective Our objective was to compare the independent associations with overweight/obesity or dietary outcomes for fast food consumption compared with dietary pattern for the remainder of intake.Design This cross-sectional analysis studied 4466 US children aged 2-18 y from NHANES 2007-2010. Cluster analysis identified 2 dietary patterns for the non-fast food remainder of intake: Western (50.3%) and Prudent. Multivariable-adjusted linear and logistic regression models examined the association between fast food consumption and dietary pattern for the remainder of intake and estimated their independent associations with overweight/obesity and dietary outcomes.Results Half of US children consumed fast food: 39.5% low-consumers (≤30% of energy from fast food) and 10.5% high-consumers (>30% of energy). Consuming a Western dietary pattern for the remainder of intake was more likely among fast food low-consumers (OR: 1.51; 95% CI: 1.24, 1.85) and high-consumers (OR: 2.21; 95% CI: 1.60, 3.05) than among nonconsumers. The remainder of diet was independently associated with overweight/obesity (β: 5.9; 95% CI: 1.3, 10.5), whereas fast food consumption was not, and the remainder of diet had stronger associations with poor total intake than did fast food consumption.Conclusions Outside the fast food restaurant, fast food consumers ate Western diets, which might have stronger associations with overweight/obesity and poor dietary outcomes than fast food consumption itself. Our findings support the need for prospective studies and randomized trials to confirm these hypotheses.

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Crossref · 10.3945/ajcn.113.071928

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Authors
Poti, J. M., Duffey, K. J., & Popkin, B. M.
Affiliations
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
Venue
The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2014-01
Volume
99
Issue
1
Pages
162-171
ISSN
0002-9165 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2131271354
Cited by
175
References
67
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 31 · 2019: 21 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 20 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 11 · 2012: 1
FWCI
12.92
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institutes of Health (2r24hd050924-06)
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL104580)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (T32DK007686)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R24 HD-050924, 5R24 HD050924)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Nutritional Studies and Diet
  • Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Nutrition, Health and Food Behavior
Keywords
fast food consumption, childhood obesity, overweight, dietary habits, Western diet, prudent diet, dietary intake, children, NHANES
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Energy Intake, Child, Child, Preschool, Cross-Sectional Studies, Diet, Feeding Behavior, Humans, Nutrition Surveys, Obesity, Regression Analysis, Restaurants, Socioeconomic Factors, Nutrition Assessment, Body Mass Index, Prevalence, Multivariate Analysis, Cluster Analysis, Fast Foods

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