The objective of this study was to examine (1) the association between consumption of fast food and sweets on overweight among U.S. adolescents; and (2) how consumption of different types of food and physical exercise is associated with parental education and other background variables. The data were based on cross-sectional, national survey study of 15,686 students from grades 6 to 10 (age 10 to 15) in the U.S. Results indicated that after adjusting for covariates, participants with high fast food consumption were statistically significantly associated with overweight. Eating habits and amount of exercise were significantly associated with parental education level and ethnicity, particularly among African-American adolescents. Results of this study also suggest that parental education is an important key factor in keeping adolescents healthy. (Contains 1 footnote and 4 tables.)