CDC: Many Texas kids don’t eat veggies daily

A report from the CDC paints a sobering picture of Texas children’s eating habits.

The U.S. agency released the analysis of a 2021 survey on children’s health on Friday. In that survey, parents were asked how often their children, ages 1 through 5, ate fruits, vegetables and sugary drinks.

Nationally, nearly half of the 18,386 kids surveyed did not eat a daily vegetable the previous week. Researchers also found around a third did not eat a daily fruit and 57 percent drank a “sugar-sweetened beverage” at least once.

Since kids need all the nutrition that’s typically offered by a balanced diet, the above is not great news. Numbers varied state by state.

“Many children aged 1 to 5 years are not eating fruits and vegetables daily and are regularly drinking sugar-sweetened beverages. In 20 states, more than one half of children did not eat a vegetable daily during the preceding week. In 40 states and the District of Columbia, more than one half of children drank a sugarsweetened beverage at least once during the preceding week,” the report reads.

In Texas, of the 315 children assessed, 29.9 percent of them did not eat a daily fruit, 47.3 percent did not eat a daily vegetable and 68.8 percent drank something sugary the previous week.

The study also noted significant racial disparities. Around 50 percent of Black children surveyed did not eat a daily fruit, 64.8 percent did not eat a daily vegetable and over 71 percent drank something sugary the previous week.

There are some caveats with the report, however: Parents were the ones who supplied the information on their children’s consumption, so it may be the case they didn’t see everything their child ate. Secondly, the survey measured the frequency of consumption and not “how much” kids were eating. On the last two, the CDC says the survey was only conducted in English and Spanish, and the questions only pertained to the previous week so numbers may not reflect exactly what they ate.