- Ultra-processed food is defined as foods that have been subject to significant industrial processing and modification. They contain very little whole foods., If any.
- A new study has shown that ultra-processed foods consumed by mothers during child-rearing was associated with an increase in obesity and overweight among their offspring, whether during childhood or adolescence.
- These findings suggest that women who are pregnant should limit their consumption of ultra-processed foods in order to prevent obesity in their children.
Childhood obesity is a significant health concern and is associated later in life with increased risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Nearly 80% of all cases of obesity in childhood and adolescence were reported.
A new study has been published in
“Our research highlights the importance of the diet of the mother on not only her health but also the health of her children. We have focused on dietary counseling for middle age and older adults in order to lower the risk of chronic diseases. This clearly shows that we need to encourage healthy eating across the life course.”
— Dr. Andrew Chan, study author and professor of medicine at the Harvard Medical School
“From a public health standpoint, we also need to emphasize access to healthy foods for family units to reduce the epidemic of childhood and adult obesity,” Dr. Chan told Medical News Today.
“We also need to understand that one of the manifestations of social disparities in health is not only differential access to health care but also differential access to healthy, minimally processed foods. This requires deliberate and thoughtful policy-making that addresses not only a basic human right to food but also a right to healthy food,” he added.
Public health guidelines regarding obesity prevention and treatment had not stressed the importance of healthy eating habits until recently. These guidelines encourage the consumption of whole grains, nuts and fruits, as well as fish, while limiting other food intakes such as sugar, saturated fats, salt, and sodium.
A steady rise in high-processed foods has contributed to the obesity epidemic. Research has shown that high-processed foods have a higher risk of developing diabetes or obesity.
Ultra-processed food is food that has undergone extensive industrial processing and modification. They contain very little whole foods. Ultra-processed foods often contain food additives such preservatives. These foods can be consumed immediately or require minimal preparation, and they have a long shelf life.
Ultra-processed food is generally very palatable and inexpensive due to the industrial manufacturing process used to make these foods. They are also high in calories and sugar and salt. Ultra-processed foods include ready-to-eat meals and packaged sweets.
Numerous studies have repeatedly shown that obesity and overweight in children and adults is linked to the consumption of processed foods. Moreover, studies have shown that a mother’s diet during pregnancy and even during childhood and adolescence, i.e. The risk of obesity in children can be affected by the mother’s diet during child-rearing.
These studies looked at the link between the DASH diet or maternal dietary habits and childhood obesity. There is not enough research to examine the relationship between maternal ultra-processed food consumption and obesity in children and adolescents.
The present study used data from mother-child pairs to determine the effect of excessively processed foods during pregnancy and child-rearing periods on obesity and overweight in children or adolescents.
The present study used data from mothers enrolled in the Nurses’ Health Study II (NHS II) and their children participating in the Growing Up Today Study (GUTS I and II), The NHS II is a longitudinal study examining risk factors associated with chronic conditions in nurses aged between 25–42 years at the time of enrollment.
GUTS-1 and GUTS-11 are longitudinal studies involving children of NHS participants aged between 7–17 years at enrollment, with an objective to examine the long-term impact of diet and exercise on an individual’s weight.
The data was gathered from questionnaires about lifestyle and health that were taken on a daily basis throughout the three studies. These data included data from food frequency questionnaires that were used to determine the average daily intake of different ultra-processed foods.
Researchers followed 19,958 mother and child pairs for an average of four years in order to examine the relationship between ultra-processed foods consumption during child rearing, and the development or obesity in their offspring aged 7-18 years.
Researchers found that mothers who ate a lot of processed food during child-rearing were more likely to be overweight or obese than their offspring in childhood and adolescence.
Based on the amount of processed food consumed during child-rearing, the researchers divided the mothers into five different groups. After adjusting for factors like maternal risk factors like energy intake, body mass, physical activity, and socioeconomic factors as well as factors related to offspring such as sedentary time, ultra-processed foods, and obesity, the researchers compared the risk of being overweight or obese among these five groups.
Mothers who ate the most processed foods during child-rearing had a 26% greater chance of their offspring becoming overweight or obese..
One of the many types of ultra processed foods was the maternal consumption of bread and breakfast items, which is associated with an increase in obesity or overweight in the offspring.
The researchers then studied the effect of ultra-processed foods during pregnancy. They used data from dietary assessments that covered at least a portion of the pregnancy for analysis.
The risk of becoming overweight or obese as a child was not linked to the consumption of processed foods in pregnancy. Researchers found that children whose mothers consumed more dairy-based sweetened drinks and desserts during pregnancy had an increased chance of becoming overweight or obese.
The study found that mothers consumed slightly less processed food between 1991-2015.
Previous research has shown that maternal inflammation during pregnancy is linked to childhood obesity. Evidence suggests that additives like
Consuming ultra-processed foods in pregnancy can also alter the long-term expression genes that are associated with energy balance and growth, increasing the likelihood of obesity in childhood.
Researchers pointed out that the study was observational and did not establish a causal relationship between ultra-processed foods consumed by mothers and obesity and overweight rates in their offspring. This means that the results of the study may not have been accounted for.
Their analysis also used self-reported measures for body weight and diet. This could have been subject to bias. The women in the study also had similar socioeconomic and educational backgrounds, which could limit the generalizability to wider populations.
Some researchers expressed doubts about the validity of the findings.
“The potentially subjective description of ultra-processed foods can introduce bias and errors. Something made at home from ingredients may not be considered to be ultra-processed, but when the identical product is bought in a shop it is not, but after all a cake is still a cake, shop bought or home baked.”
Dr. Hilda Mulrooney, associate professor of nutrition at Kingston University, says there was “a lot of disagreement” about the NOVA classification system for ultra-processed foods.
“The NOVA system is not agreed on in the literature and suggests that the level of processing rather than the nutritional quality of the food, is more important for health. This is not universally agreed in nutritional science, which relates the risk of ill-health to intakes of nutrients,” she said, pointing out that ultra-processed foods are often high in calories, fat, salt and/or sugar.
Are all processed foods unhealthy?
Dr. Gunter Kuhnle, professor of nutrition and food science at the University of Reading, notes that “[The study participants] with the highest intake of ultra-processed food have the overall lowest diet quality, most likely to smoke, have a lower income and lower educational attainment—it is therefore very likely that socio-economic factors can explain at least some of the results.”
“In my opinion, such studies detract from the real problem by focusing on a fashionable but wrong definition. Many of the foods classed as ‘ultra-processed’ can be part of a healthy diet and there is no need to avoid them. As they often have a long shelf-life and make much better use of resources—for example, fish fingers—they are more affordable and can reduce food waste,” Prof. Kuhnle added.
“Instead of demonizing foods and making people feel guilty for not being able to afford more expensive foods, it would be better to understand the physiological reasons and find ways to mitigate those. Ultimately, this would also require addressing existing health disparities.”
— Dr. Gunter Kuhnle
