One of the dodges that food-industry lobbyists and apologists use is that those foods are fine when eaten occasionally as part of a balanced food plan. I would dispute even that, because crap food is crap food, regardless of how often it is consumed. But certainly, consuming more of it is worse than consuming less of it.

But less is not how teens are eating it. In this latest snippet from the Rudd Center report on youths and their eating habits, we see that young people are continuing to increase their intake of fast food and junk food.

Every day, one-third of young people (2-17 years) consume fast food. In 2003-2004, 59 percent of adolescents surveyed had consumed fast food in the past two days and fast food contributed 16-17 percent of adolescents’ total caloric intake.

Meanwhile, let's also acknowledge while the mouthpieces peddle their piffle about moderation, the marketing departments down the hall are spending billions a year trying to get customers through the doors and drive-thrus as often as possible, not as an occasional treat. The tagline was never, "You deserve a break ... every once in a while."