A study led by the University of Rovira i Virgili's (URV) Human Nutrition Unit has associated the consumption of ultra-processed foods products with a greater risk of overweight, increased blood sugar and worse levels of good cholesterol. A high consumption of ultra-processed foods during childhood is associated with worse cardiometabolic health. This is the main conclusion of a study led by a research team from the URV's Human Nutrition Unit in collaboration with the Pere Virgili Health Research Institute (IISPV) and the Biomedical Research Networking Centre, Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN).
The research was conducted on boys and girls between 3 and 6 years old and the main results were published in the journal JAMA Network Open . Ultra-processed foods tend to be high in saturated fat, sugar, salt, additives and pollutants, while poor in nutrients. Even so, pastries, soft drinks , milkshakes and snacks are often part of children's diets.
To study their effect on health in the first years of life, the research evaluated how the consumption of these products affects a population of more than 1,500 boys and girls aged 3 to 6 from various places (Reus, Córdoba, Santiago de Compostela, Navarra Valencia, Barcelona and Zaragoza), which are taking part in the CORALS multicentre study. The results showed that children who consumed more ultra-processed foods had higher scores on parameters such as body mass index , waist circumference, fat mass index and blood su.