How well do you know kids' eating habits?

INDIANA (WLFI) - So, you’ve read up. You know why healthy food is endlessly beneficial to kids – and you know why a poor diet can have lasting consequences. But do you know what the eating behaviors of young people are actually like?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most United States youth:

• Do not meet the recommendations for eating 2½ cups to 6½ cups of fruits and vegetables each day
• Do not eat the minimum recommended amounts of whole grains (2-3 ounces each day)
• Eat more than the recommended maximum daily intake of sodium (1,500-2,300 mg each day)

Empty calories from added sugars and solid fats contribute to 40 percent of daily calories for children and adolescents aged 2-18 years, affecting the overall quality of their diets. Approximately half of these empty calories come from six sources: soda, fruit drinks, dairy desserts, grain desserts, pizza and whole milk.

Adolescents drink more full-calorie soda per day than milk. Males aged 12-19 years drink an average of 22 ounces of full-calorie soda per day, more than twice their intake of fluid milk (10 ounces), and females drink an average of 14 ounces of full-calorie soda and only 6 ounces of fluid milk.