South Africans have an appetite for fast food but the Americans beat us hands down!
On any given day, when Americas are deciding where and what to eat, more than a third of adults - 36.6 percent, estimated to be more than 84 million adults - choose offerings from fast-food or pizza restaurants, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Its data, which came from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey spanning 2013 to 2016.
The found that lunch is the most popular mealtime for fast food among adults, especially men. (Women are more likely than men to snack on fast food, however.)
Overall, interest in eating fast food seems to decline with age.
About 36 percent of American kids and teens eat pizza or other fast food each day. Pexels.
The largest regular consumers of fast foods - about 45 percent - are adults 20 to 39 years olds.
The percentage drops to 24 percent for people older than 60, the CDC found.
Among children and teens, about 36 percent consumed pizza or other fast food each day, according to the CDC's analysis of fast-food habits among children and teens. Interestingly, the CDC found that the "percentage of adults who consumed fast food increased with increasing family income."
Fast-food eateries have been criticized for offering foods high in calories, fat and salt - increasing consumers' risk for high blood pressure, heart disease and obesity - and providing few foods that are healthy, such as fruits and vegetables.
But as interest has boomed in quick-access food options, some outlets are changing their menus.
Also, U.S government regulations now require that calorie counts be included on menus for fast-food chains with 20 or more outlets.