There are about 74 million children in the US. ^[1] They are our most vulnerable population. Regardless of their socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, zip code, language, or country of origin, children are always at the mercy of the people and the environment around them.

According to a large body of research, we fail to give our children the food that best supports their growth and development. A peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that about 67 percent of calories consumed by children and adolescents in 2018 came from ultra-processed foods, a six-percent increase since 1999. ^[2] The researchers analyzed the diets of 33,795 youths aged 2–19 across the US. They note the “overall poorer nutrient profile” of ultra-processed foods, but I hardly need to tell you about that. Ultra-processed foods are almost universally recognized as unhealthy. Their consumption is associated with an increased risk of numerous chronic diseases. ^[3] And their prevalence in the food supply, along with the high consumption of animal products, is what makes these diseases commonplace. They are at the root of what is now called multimorbidity.

It’s bad enough that the national habit of flooding our children with “convenience” food and animal products, combined with very few whole plant-based options, undermines the health of our children. What’s worse is that this is also killing the planet, something our children will have to cope with after we are gone. The intersection of these challenges has been ignored too often throughout the past several decades, to the world’s detriment. Consider the environmental impact of our food choices:

• Though estimates vary between studies, about one-quarter to one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions come from agricultural products. ^[4] Over half of the global emissions from food come from animal agriculture; meat and dairy products have a much higher carbon footprint. ^[5]
• Land use for livestock is responsible for twice as much greenhouse gas emissions as land use for human crops. ^[5]
• Eighty percent of agricultural land use is dedicated to animal agriculture; despite requiring this large majority of agricultural land, animal products supply only seventeen percent of global calories. ^[6]
• Many reduce their beef consumption hoping to lessen their environmental impact, but less resource-intensive products like poultry also have a much higher impact than plant-based foods and are associated with other risks (e.g., industrial poultry operations are breeding grounds for viruses.)
• In addition to greenhouse gas emissions, animal agriculture contributes heavily to habitat destruction, biodiversity loss, finite resource depletion, dangerous antimicrobial resistance and occupational hazards, pollution, and needlessfood waste.

Data source: Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek (2018); visualization by OurWorldinData.org ^[5]CC BY

Data source: Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek (2018); visualization and additional calculations by OurWorldinData.org ^[5] CC BY

Data source: UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Poore and Nemecek (2018); visualization by OurWorldinData.org ^[6]CC BY

Children are our most precious assets. Healthy children grow up healthy adults who can support and regenerate the environment. Given that nutrition is our most powerful tool for improving children’s health, prioritizing children’s nutrition is not optional but necessary. We have just about run out of time. We must disrupt the standard American diet that has become so ingrained over the last 50–100 years.

References

1. UNICEF Data. How many children are there in the US? (2023). Accessed January 31, 2025. https://data.unicef.org/how-many/how-many-children-under-18-are-there-in-the-us/
2. ang L, Martínez Steele E, Du M, et al. Trends in Consumption of Ultraprocessed Foods Among US Youths Aged 2-19 Years, 1999-2018. JAMA. 2021;326(6):519–530. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.10238
3. Cordova R, Viallon V, Fontvieille E, et al. Consumption of ultra-processed foods and risk of multimorbidity of cancer and cardiometabolic diseases: a multinational cohort study. Lancet Reg Health Eur. 2023;35:100771. Published 2023 Nov 14. doi:10.1016/j.lanepe.2023.100771
4. Ritchie H. How much of global greenhouse gas emissions come from food? Our World in Data. March 18, 2021. https://ourworldindata.org/greenhouse-gas-emissions-food
5. Ritchie H, Rosado P, Roser M. Environmental impacts of food production. Our World in Data. Accessed January 31, 2025. https://ourworldindata.org/environmental-impacts-of-food
6. Ritchie H and Roser M. Half of the world’s habitable land is used for agriculture. Our World in Data. February 16, 2024. https://ourworldindata.org/global-land-for-agriculture