It’s not a shocker: Kids eat lots of sugar.

About 16% of their daily calories come from sugar, according to a new report released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.

By sugar the report means sugars in processed foods like soda, cakes and ice cream. It also includes sweet substitutes like corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, malt syrup, fructose sweetener, honey, molasses, anhydrous dextrose, crystal dextrose and dextrin.

About 66% of sugary foods were consumed at home, according to the report. This means that the vast majority of kids get their sugar fix at their houses rather than school cafeterias, convenience stores or vending machines.



Boys consumed about 362 calories from added sugars compared to 282 calories for girls. The sugary consumption increased with age, beginning at 218 calories for boys between the age of two and five, which increased to 442 calories for teens ages 12 through 19.

White males were more likely to consume the largest percent of sugar, compared with black or Hispanic males. The same trend was true for white females, although the differences in the percentages were lesser than those seen among boys.