It looks like American kids may need to cut down on the Happy Meals. A recent study published by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that a third of all American children between the ages of 2-11 and adolescents aged 12-19 eat fast food at least once a day.

What's more alarming is that around 12% of the calories consumed by the average American child come from fast food. 12% means roughly 250 calories, which is the equivalent of a small hamburger.

The study shows that these figures increase as children grow older, with teenagers getting 16.9% of their intake from fast food. The figure is double that of the 8.7% consumed by kids in the 2-11 bracket. This trend shows that fast food habits become stronger as kids grow older.

A separate report from the CDC reveals some worrying statistics about childhood obesity.

According to this study, obesity among children has doubled in the past 30 years. Over the same period, obesity cases among adolescents have quadrupled.

Effects of this include:

• Children and adolescents who are obese are likely to be obese as adults^11-14and are therefore more at risk for adult health problems such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, several types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.⁶One study showed that children who became obese as early as age 2 were more likely to be obese as adults.¹²
• Overweight and obesity are associated with increased risk for many types of cancer, including cancer of the breast, colon, endometrium, esophagus, kidney, pancreas, gall bladder, thyroid, ovary, cervix, and prostate, as well as multiple myeloma and Hodgkin's lymphoma.¹⁵

Some lawmakers have already tried to curb this trend. Earlier this month, we reported on a New York City councilor who is trying to get a 'Happy Meals Bill' through local legislation.