The degree of food processing contributes to sugar intakes in families with preschool-aged children

Ultra-Processed Foods: A Narrative Review of the Impact on the Human Gut Microbiome and Variations in Classification Methods

“…Observational studies cannot determine causal relationships, but large-scale studies can reveal trends in data related to health outcomes. Similar to RCTs, several observational studies included in our analysis found that UPF consumption was associated with obesity and higher BMI [ 79 , 87 , 91 ], as well as higher sugar intake [ 89 ]. The observational studies tracking participants over a long period of time were able to detect associations between UPFs and adverse health outcomes that are not captured in shorter RCT studies.…”

“…Of the studies in Table 3 , eight used FFQs [ 81 , 82 , 83 , 84 , 85 , 86 , 87 , 88 ], seven used 24 h dietary recalls [ 77 , 79 , 80 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 92 ], and two used a combination of methods (FFQs and food records) [ 76 , 78 ] to collect food information. Each of these methods have been validated for use in dietary research, but limitations exist that make food processing classification difficult in some cases.…”

“…Each of these methods have been validated for use in dietary research, but limitations exist that make food processing classification difficult in some cases. When there was ambiguity in the classification of foods, studies resolved these items by several methods: group discussion and consensus [ 83 , 86 , 90 , 91 , 92 ], discussion and defaulting to a lower level of processing [ 77 , 81 , 82 , 85 , 86 , 88 , 89 ], expanding discussion to an external group [ 87 ], and utilizing external resources such as grocery store labels [ 84 , 87 , 90 , 91 ]. As shown, some studies used a combination of these methods, while others did not describe how they worked to resolve discrepancies.…”