Ultra-processed Foods Make Up The Majority Of Kids' Diet, Cdc Report Finds

Ultra-processed foods dress up nan bulk of what kids eat — and adults aren’t acold behind, a study published Thursday by nan Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds.

About 62% of kids’ and teens’ regular calories came from ultra-processed foods, nan CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics found, compared pinch 53% for adults.

The study marks nan first clip CDC has provided estimates astir really overmuch ultra-processed foods dress up Americans’ diets.

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. successful May cited ultra-processed foods among his database of apical issues that request to beryllium addressed to curb what he says is an pandemic of puerility chronic diseases.

Last month, nan Department of Health and Human Services took nan first measurement to formally specify “ultra-processed foods” — a move, experts say, that could unfastened nan doorway to regulation, including what types of nutrient are eligible for nutrient assistance programs. Diets precocious successful ultra-processed foods person been linked to a number of wellness problems, including depression, Type 2 diabetes and early death.

Previous administrations person besides tried to return action connected ultra-processed foods, but those efforts person focused mostly connected labeling and individual ingredients — specified arsenic added sugars and trans fats — alternatively than connected regulating aliases classifying foods based connected their level of processing. In January, during nan Biden administration, nan Food and Drug Administration proposed requiring a caller label connected nan beforehand of astir packaged nutrient and drinks that would alert consumers to really overmuch saturated fat, brackish and added sweetener they contained.

Thursday’s study was based connected findings from nan National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, from August 2021 to August 2023.

The report’s lead author, Anne Williams, a interrogator pinch nan National Center for Health Statistics, said nan agency identified ultra-processed foods utilizing nan NOVA classification strategy — a model developed by Brazilian researchers that’s nan astir commonly utilized instrumentality to measure processed foods. NOVA defines ultra-processed products arsenic “industrial creations” made pinch small — if immoderate — full foods.

The apical root of ultra-processed foods for some kids and adults was sandwiches, specified arsenic burgers, basking dogs and PB&Js, Williams said. That was followed by baked goods, salty snacks and sugary drinks.

The study recovered that adults pinch higher incomes tended to eat less ultra-processed foods.

It besides recovered that intake of ultra-processed foods for some kids and adults dropped somewhat from 2017-18 to August 2021–23. For adults, nan diminution started moreover earlier, going backmost to 2013–14. Williams cautioned that nan diminution truthful acold has been mini — a 56-calorie quality complete astir a decade.

Marion Nestle, professor emerita of nutrition, nutrient studies and nationalist wellness astatine New York University, said nan CDC’s findings align pinch what extracurricular researchers person recovered astir Americans’ eating habits.

Nestle said parents thin to gravitate toward ultra-processed foods for their kids because they’re easy to propulsion successful a schoolhouse luncheon bag.

But, she added, astir apt nan biggest logic kids eat truthful galore ultra-processed foods is that nan nutrient manufacture heavy markets it to them.

“They’re nan astir profitable products successful nan supermarket, and nan companies waste them, they marketplace them straight to kids,” Nestle said. “They’re seen arsenic cool and are iconic and you’re fortunate to eat them, because that’s really they’re marketed.”

The word “ultra-processed food” was created astir 2009 and has chiefly been utilized for investigation purposes, said Susan Mayne, who was head of nan FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition successful some nan Biden and nan first Trump administrations.

Mayne said investigation has shown that eating ultra-processed foods successful wide is linked to accrued caloric intake and weight summation and that it is associated pinch greater consequence of chronic diseases.

The problem pinch defining ultra-processed foods, she said, is that not each of them are linked to greater wellness risks. In fact, immoderate — for illustration definite yogurts, full atom breads and cereals — are really associated pinch reduced risks of chronic diseases for illustration colon cancer. States for illustration California person tried to reside that by coming up pinch a meaning of “particularly harmful” ultra-processed foods, she added.

The NOVA classification strategy besides has limitations, arsenic it doesn’t straight measurement processing, Mayne said. Rather, it uses additives and circumstantial ingredients arsenic a proxy for nan level of processing.

“FDA is engaging successful a nationalist process to effort to specify UPF, which is simply a bully first step,” Mayne said successful an email, referring to ultra-processed foods. “But it would beryllium important to repetition studies to show that nan caller meaning is arsenic aliases much predictive of chronic illness consequence than existing definitions earlier it could beryllium utilized for policies.”

HHS hasn’t said erstwhile it plans to formally specify “ultra-processed.”

Nestle said she hopes nan Trump management besides targets marketing.

“These are highly convenient products, and nan kids will eat them because nan kids person been trained to eat them,” she said.