A Project of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Nutrition Habits of U.S. High School Students

Updated September 2020: The most recent data reveal that 15.1% of U.S. high school students drank soda at least once a day in 2019, down from 20.4% in 2015 and 27% in 2013. The 2019 data also show that 6.3% of high school students did not regularly consume fruits, 7.9% did not regularly consume vegetables, and 16.7% did not eat breakfast during the week before the survey.

The data come from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS), a biannual measure of self-reported health behaviors among U.S. middle and high school students released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Explore national and state-level data on four nutrition-related questions below. Other data features on the site provide access to YRBSS data on questions related to physical activity, as well as obesity rates based on self-reported heights and weights.

Use the dropdown to select a state:

1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013 2015 2017 2019

United States 2019

High Soda Consumption

Students who drank one or more cans, bottles or glasses of soda daily (not counting diet soda or diet pop) for the seven days before the survey)

No Breakfast

High school students who did not eat breakfast during the seven days before the survey

Low Fruit Consumption

Students who did not eat fruit or drink 100% fruit juices during the seven days before the survey

Low Vegetable Consumption

Students who did not eat vegetables (green salad, potatoes — excluding French fries, fried potatoes and potato chips — carrots or other vegetables) during the seven days before the survey

* Race/ethnicity data for individual states are not shown due to small sample sizes in the population. Note: The CDC uses the term Hispanic in their analysis. All races are non-Hispanic.