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While industrial processing can keep foods longer and allow certain foods to be fortified with vitamins, it modifies foods to change their consistency, taste and color to make them more palatable, inexpensive and practical – using processes that are not used at home. cooked meals. They are also marketed aggressively by the food industry.
“Some whole grain breads and dairy products are ultra-processed, and they are healthier than other ultra-processed foods,” said lead author Fang Fang Zhang, nutrition and cancer epidemiologist at the Friedman School. of Nutrition Science and Policy from Tufts University. In Boston.
“But many ultra-processed foods are less healthy, with more sugar and salt, and less fiber, than unprocessed and minimally processed foods, and the increase in their consumption by children and teens is cause for concern.”
Between 1999 and 2018, the proportion of healthy unprocessed or minimally processed foods increased from 28.8% to 23.5% of calories consumed, according to the study.
The remaining percentage of calories came from moderately processed foods such as cheese and canned fruits and vegetables, and flavor enhancers such as sugar, honey, maple syrup and butter, according to the study. .
The biggest increase in calories comes from ready-to-eat or ready-to-reheat meals such as take-out and frozen pizzas and burgers: from 2.2% to 11.2% of calories, according to the study. The second largest increase came in packaged sugary snacks and desserts, consumption of which rose from 10.6% to 12.9%.
Experts said the study’s implications for future health were important given that childhood is a critical time for biological development and the formation of eating habits.
“The current food system is structured to promote the overconsumption of ultra-processed foods through a variety of strategies, including pricing and promotions, aggressive marketing, including to youth and especially black and Latino youth, and high availability of these products in schools, “wrote Katie Meyer and Lindsey Smith Taillie, both assistant professors in the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, in a commentary on the study. They were not involved in the research.
Good news
Good news suggests that efforts to curb the consumption of sugary drinks such as taxes on soda have been effective: Calories from sugary drinks fell from 10.8% to 5.3% of total calories.
“We need to harness the same energy and the same level of commitment when it comes to other unhealthy ultra-processed foods such as cakes, cookies, donuts and brownies,” Zhang said.
Non-Hispanic black youth experienced a greater increase in the proportion of ultra-processed foods in their diets compared to their white counterparts. The study said it did not assess trends in other racial or ethnic groups due to a lack of nationally representative data. However, he noted that Mexican-American youth are consuming ultra-processed foods at a consistently lower rate, which the authors said. might reflect more home cooking among Hispanic families.
Parents’ education level or family income had no impact on the consumption of ultra-processed foods, suggesting they are common in most children’s diets, the study adds.
The authors said their study had some limitations: Asking people to remember what they ate isn’t always an accurate measure of food intake. Additionally, there is a tendency to underreport socially undesirable habits such as eating unhealthy foods.
Additionally, it can be difficult to accurately categorize ultra-processed foods as it requires a full ingredient list – information unlikely to be provided by children taking a quiz.
“Better methods of dietary assessment and food classification are needed to understand the trends and mechanisms of action of consuming ultra-processed foods,” Mayer and Taillie wrote.
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