Seniors ultra-processed food addiction by weight U.S. 2022

In 2022, a survey of adults in the United States aged 50 to 80 years found that among those who were overweight, around 27 percent met criteria for an addiction to ultra-processed food in the past year. Women in this group were twice as likely as men to meet the criteria for this addiction. This statistic shows the percentage of adults in the United States aged 50 to 80 years who met criteria for an addiction to highly processed food in 2022, by weight.

Percentage of adults in the United States aged 50 to 80 years who met criteria for an addiction to highly processed food in 2022, by weight

Characteristic	Men	Women	All
About the right weight	1%	4%	3%
Slightly overweight	5%	13%	9%
Overweight	17%	34%	27%

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Release date

January 2023

More information

Region

United States

Survey time period

July 2022

Number of respondents

2,163 respondents

Age group

50-80 years

Method of interview

Telephone interviews and online survey

Supplementary notes

The source provides the following information:

"People sometimes have difficulty controlling how much they eat of certain foods such as:

• Sweets like ice cream, chocolate, doughnuts, cookies, cake, and candy

• Starches like white bread, rolls, pasta, and rice

• Salty snacks like chips, pretzels, and crackers

• Fatty foods like steak, bacon, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, pizza, and french fries

• Sugary drinks like soda pop, lemonade, sports drinks, and energy drinks

In answering the following questions, respondents were asked to consider their experiences with the foods listed above, any foods or beverages similar to those listed above, and any other foods they had difficulty with in the past year."

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