A negative electrode active material with sufficiently high discharge capacity at a high rate, and a negative electrode and a lithium ion secondary battery using the negative electrode active material. A negative electrode active material according to the invention includes a negative electrode active material particle containing silicon and silicon oxide, wherein a surface layer part of the negative electrode active material particle is a layer with lower density than a core part of the negative electrode active material particle. With such a structure of the negative electrode active material, the sufficiently high discharge capacity at a high rate can be obtained.