🌅 Today’s stat: 1%

SOURCE

Bencsik et al. (2025)

WHAT TO KNOW

• Unexpected traffic delays beyond the usual congestion lead to increased fast food visits, especially when the additional delays happen around evening mealtimes (for perspective, the authors say to think of a 30-second traffic delay per mile as the difference between 10am and 5pm traffic). While a 1% increase might not sound like much, it amounts to 1.2 million more fast food visits per year in Los Angeles County (the location of the study data).

WHY IT MATTERS

• On the surface, the study appears to be about traffic and health; dig deeper, you’ll realize it’s actually about time. Humans have a limited number of hours each day to get things done, most of which get consumed by work, and as the American work day gets longer and traffic congestion in the U.S. gets worse, any delay—including traffic—may force us into a less-healthy choice.

CONNECT THE DOTS

• Fast food restaurants serve meals to more than a third (36.6%) of Americans each day, with adults consuming an average of 836 calories each visit (around 40% of the recommended daily calorie intake). Other research suggests one additional meal eaten away from home each week translates to an extra two pounds of weight gained in a year.