Mapped: Where kids are eating their vegetables
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Open embedded content from datawrapper.dwcdn.netNearly half of young kids aren't eating a daily vegetable and 1 in 3 aren't getting at least one daily fruit in their diets, the CDC reported Thursday.
Why it matters: The data offers a glimpse at the quality of kids' diets — which impact growth and development — at a time of increased interest in addressing childhood nutrition, as well as concerns about the pending loss of pandemic-era food benefits.
- It also comes as urgency builds over chronic diet-related illnesses and there's more attention on food as medicine programs in state Medicaid programs.
Details: Researchers examined more than 18,000 responses from parents to the 2021 National Survey of Children's Health regarding what kids ages 1 to 5 consumed in the previous week.
- Just under half (49.1%) said their child did not eat a daily vegetable and 32.1% indicated a daily fruit wasn't consumed.
- Meanwhile, 57.1% said a sugar-sweetened beverage had been consumed by their child in the last week.
The big picture: Results varied greatly by state.
- For example, in Vermont, 30.4% of children in Vermont did not eat a daily vegetable in the prior week, compared with 64.3% in Louisiana.
- About 40% of children in Maine consumed a sugar-sweetened beverage in the prior week compared to nearly 80% in Mississippi.
- There also were differences by race and ethnicity, with non-Hispanic Black children likeliest to not consume a daily fruit or vegetable.
The bottom line: States can use the findings to prioritize efforts to improve early childhood nutrition, the authors wrote.
