Americans And Fast Food

For years now some people have been trying to convince Americans to stop eating fast food, saying it is just not good for you. The middle chart above might make one think that the message is getting through. It shows that only about 22% of Americans think fast food is good for you, while a whopping 76% say it is either not too good or not good at all.

But whatever people may think of the health value of fast food, it doesn't look like people are ready to give it up. About 47% of Americans eat fast food at least once a week, and if you include those who say they eat it a couple of times a month, that figures jumps up to 80%. Only 4% of the population say they never eat fast food. And if you look at the top chart, you can see that fast food eating habits have changed very little over the past decade. If the message is getting through, it is being ignored.

The bottom chart shows the percentage of various groups eating fast food at least once a week. It didn't surprise me that the older people get, the less fast food they eat. But it doesn't drop all that much. Even 41% of those over 65 will eat fast food at least once a week. The only real surprise was the difference between people of different incomes. The general myth is that poorer people eat more fast food than people with a substantial income. The poll shows that the opposite is true -- only 39%-42% of those making less than $30,000 a year eat fast food weekly, while more than 50% of those making over $30,000 eat it weekly.

I have to admit that I love fast food. But my family doesn't eat it as much as we used to -- mainly because of economic rather than health reasons (only about 3-4 times a month). I'm not at all sure I could do less than that. I tend to think the problem is Americans not eating in moderation -- and you can eat an unhealthy amount at home just as easily as at a fast food place.

It was not so long ago that everyone was raving about a movie where a man ate only McDonald's for an extended period of time -- and then talked about the negative effects it had on his health. But the problem to me was that he pigged-out at every meal, instead of eating moderate amounts -- and it is more likely that his eating too much hurt his health more than the food he was eating. I am not saying that eating fast food every day is a good diet. It probably isn't. But eating in moderation, whether eating fast food or home cooking, will go a long way toward being healthy.

Anyway, it doesn't look like Americans are going to be giving up their fast foods anytime soon.

The charts above were made from a recent Gallup Poll ( conducted between July 10th and 14th of a nationwide sample of 2,027 adults --with a margin of error of 3 points).