A new study finds alarming, though not surprising, evidence that nutrition among the nation’s youth is in freefall. One in three children between the ages of 1 and 5 did not eat fruit daily in the past week during a survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Half the children in the survey did not consume a daily vegetable in the past week.

But they are consuming sugary drinks. Three in five drank a sugary drink in the past week.

South Dakota ranked below the national average. Thirty-seven percent of children did not eat fruit daily and 53 percent did not eat a vegetable. But 58 percent did consume a sugary beverage.

Louisiana had the fewest number of children who had consumed a vegetable at 64 percent. But 70 percent had consumed at least one sugary beverage.

In additional Louisiana news, the 2023 Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans kicked off on Feb. 21, complete with the usual decadence and debauchery that mark Mardi Gras.

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