Eating Away From Home

The Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living is developing a series of reports, Healthy Children, Healthy State, to raise awareness of child health risk factors in order to develop new programs and actions, and to build on current initiatives in Texas. The Eating Away From Home   one-pager showcases the current state of food consumption for children in Texas.

This report was released on May 19, 2021.  It was last updated on October 8, 2021 and utilizes 2019 - 2020 TX SPAN data.

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Over 62% of 2nd graders ate at a restaurant on a given school day. We must improve child nutrition in Texas. Learn more at go.uth.edu/TexasChildHealth #HealthyChildrenHealthyState

Most students who eat at restaurants eat fried foods and drink sugar-sweetened beverages. We must improve child nutrition in Texas. Learn more at go.uth.edu/TexasChildHealth #HealthyChildrenHealthyState

Eating too much fast food can affect children’s overall nutritional status  due to excessive calories and fat, and an overall low nutritional value. We must improve child nutrition in Texas. Learn more at go.uth.edu/TexasChildHealth

Texas children are consuming fast food and fried snacks at worrying levels. These unhealthy foods are generally consumed away from home, are highly-processed, and tend to be relatively low in nutrients and high in calories. We must improve child nutrition in Texas. Learn more at go.uth.edu/TexasChildHealth

View graphs of 2nd, 4th, 8th, and 11th graders who eat at a restaurant on a given school day here.