Fast food joints may have been promising to add healthier options over the last few years, but researchers have found that their menu offerings have actually gotten less healthy.
The decline of nutrition
In a new study of 10 of the most popular fast food chains, researchers looked at nutrition, variety and portion size and determined how main meals, sides and desserts at the restaurants have changed over 30 years.
The restaurants included:
• Wendy’s
• McDonald’s
• Burger King
• Carl’s Jr.
• Arby’s
• KFC
• Long John Silver’s
• Jack in the Box
• Hardee’s
• Dairy Queen
The restaurants were chosen because they are among those who provide nutritional information on things like portion size, sodium and energy for the time the data was being analyzed. The menus being evaluated were taken from 1986, 1991 and 2016.
It would seem like a positive change that the restaurants increased their variety of foods by 226% per year. Unfortunately, the portion size and calorie content also increased. The desserts had the highest increase in calories, followed by the main entrees. The sodium content also went up for all the food categories.
Fast food in the United States
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 36.6% of American adults ate fast food on any given day between the years 2013 and 2016.
“Given the popularity of fast food, our study highlights one of the changes in our food environment that is likely part of the reason for the increase in obesity and related chronic conditions over the past several decades, which are now among the main causes of death in the U.S.,” says Megan McCrory, the lead investigator from Boston University. “Despite the vast number of choices offered at fast food restaurants, some of which are healthier than others, the calories, portion sizes and sodium content overall have worsened over time and retain high.”
The results were published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
