Ultra-processed foods consumption and diet quality of European children, adolescents and adults : Results from the I.Family study

Lauria, F. and Dello Russo, M. and Formisano, A. and De Henauw, S. and Hebestreit, A. and Hunsberger, M. and Krogh, Vittorio and Intemann, T. and Lissner, L. and Molnar, D. and Moreno, L.A. and Reisch, L.A. and Tornaritis, M. and Veidebaum, T. and Williams, G. and Siani, A. and Russo, P. and consortium, I.Family (2021) Ultra-processed foods consumption and diet quality of European children, adolescents and adults : Results from the I.Family study. Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases, 31 (11). pp. 3031-3043.

[thumbnail of NMCD_D_21_00523_R2]
Text (NMCD_D_21_00523_R2)
NMCD_D_21_00523_R2.pdf - Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs.

Download (2MB)

Abstract

Background and aims: Food processing has been indicated as a factor capable of negatively affecting the global food system, including the profile of consumers’ diets. The objectives of the present study were to provide a description of the consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in the large population of children, adolescents and adults from eight European countries participating to the I.Family study, and to investigate the association between UPFs intake and nutritional quality of the diet. Methods and results: Dietary intake was assessed using a 24-h dietary recall. The quality of the diet was evaluated by the Healthy Dietary Adherence Score (HDAS) using an FFQ. UPFs were classified according to the NOVA classification. Almost half of the daily energy intake of the 7073 participants came from UPFs, and this trend decreased progressively with age. UPFs contributed more than 50 % of the daily intake of total and saturated fat, carbohydrates and about 70 % of sugars intake in children and adolescents. No differences in UPFs consumption were found according to the educational and socio-economic status of the population. Energy intake increased across the quintiles of UPFs intake, while HDAS decreased. The frequency of consumption of fruit and vegetable, fish, and fibre rich foods was low in the fifth quintile of UPFs intake, both in adolescents and in adults. The consumption of foods rich in calories and low in nutritional content, operationally defined as “junk food”, was significantly higher in the fifth quintile. Conclusions: In the population of the European I.Family study, UPFs contributed a large proportion of the daily energy intake, especially in children and adolescents. Higher consumption of UPFs was associated with a lower quality of the diet. Registration number for clinical trials: ISRCTN62310987.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases
Additional Information:
This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases, 31, 11, 2021 DOI: 10.1016/j.numecd.2021.07.019
Subjects:
?? adolescentsadultschildrendiet qualitynova classificationultra-processed foods ??
ID Code:
160727
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
08 Oct 2021 12:55
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
01 Oct 2024 00:43