Skip to main content

Ultraprocessed Foods Increase Adiposity, Cardiometabolic Risk in Children

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on May 22, 2024.

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, May 22, 2024 -- High ultraprocessed food (UPF) consumption in young children is associated with adiposity and other cardiometabolic risk factors, according to a study published online May 17 in JAMA Network Open.

Nadine Khoury, from Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Italy, and colleagues examined the association between UPF consumption and cardiometabolic risk in children. The analysis included 1,426 participants (aged 3 to 6 years) in the Childhood Obesity Risk Assessment Longitudinal Study.

The researchers found that compared with participants in the lowest tertile of energy-adjusted UPF consumption, those in the highest tertile showed higher z scores of body mass index (BMI; β coefficient, 0.20), waist circumference (β coefficient, 0.20), fat mass index (β coefficient, 0.17), and fasting plasma glucose (β coefficient, 0.22), as well as lower z scores for high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (β coefficient, −0.19). Each one standard-deviation increment in energy-adjusted UPF consumption was associated with higher z scores for BMI (β coefficient, 0.11), waist circumference (β coefficient, 0.09), fat mass index (β coefficient, 0.11), and fasting plasma glucose (β coefficient, 0.10), as well as lower HDL cholesterol (β coefficient, −0.07). When substituting 100 g of UPFs with 100 g of unprocessed or minimally processed foods, there was an association with lower z scores of BMI (β coefficient, −0.03), fat mass index (β coefficient, −0.03), and fasting plasma glucose (β coefficient, −0.04).

"These findings highlight the need for public health initiatives to promote the replacement of UPFs with unprocessed or minimally processed foods," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted May 2024

Read this next

First Responders With More Debris Exposure Have Higher Risk of Early Dementia

FRIDAY, June 14, 2024 -- More severe exposure to dust or debris among World Trade Center (WTC) responders is significantly associated with a higher risk of dementia at <65...

1990 to 2019 Saw Increase in Life Expectancy in Seniors With T1DM

FRIDAY, June 14, 2024 -- From 1990 to 2019, there was an increase in life expectancy in older people with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM), according to a study published online...

Second Tumors Are Rare After Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy

FRIDAY, June 14, 2024 -- Second tumors are rarely seen after chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, according to a study published in the June 13 issue of the New England...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.