Ultraprocessed Foods and Obesity Risk: A Critical Review of Reported Mechanisms

Valicente, Vinicius M.; Peng, Ching-Hsuan; Pacheco, Kathryn N.; Lin, Luotao; Kielb, Elizabeth I.; Dawoodani, Elina; Abdollahi, Afsoun; Mattes, Richard D.

doi:10.1016/j.advnut.2023.04.006

Cited by 27 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 344 publications

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“…This increased palatability may result in increased caloric intake and contribute to the development of obesity. However, because the avoidance of ultra-processed foods may also cause possible adverse effects (e.g., reduced diet quality, increased risk of food poisoning and food wastage) [ 42 ], these hypotheses should be interpreted with caution and warrant future studies to verify causality and plausible mechanisms of the deleterious health effects of ultra-processed foods. However, because we do not know the exact degree of processing of all imported foods, this hypothesis should be interpreted with caution.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Higher Imported Food Patterns Are Associated with Obesity and Severe Obesity in Tuvalu: A Latent Class Analysis

López-Gil,

Wu,

Lee

et al. 2024

Current Developments in Nutrition

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Higher Imported Food Patterns Are Associated with Obesity and Severe Obesity in Tuvalu: A Latent Class Analysis

López-Gil,

Wu,

Lee

et al. 2024

Current Developments in Nutrition

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“…A range of plausible mechanisms exist by which ultra-processing may promote energy overconsumption and weight gain. This includes their nutrient and energy content, displacement of healthy food groups, matrix degradation, altered texture, taste, satiety and additive content [ 39 – 41 ], dysregulation of mechanisms of weight regulation and behavioural and environmental aspects such as hyperpalatability, marketing, low cost, portion size, availability and convenience [ 42 ••, 43 ]. Some academics have even argued that UPFs have addictive potential, but this is debated [ 44 ].…”

Section: Mechanisms: What Drives the Effect?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ultra-processed Food and Obesity: What Is the Evidence?

Dicken,

Batterham

2024

Curr Nutr Rep

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Purpose of Review Obesity is a growing global healthcare concern. A proposed driver is the recent increase in ultra-processed food (UPF) intake. However, disagreement surrounds the concept of UPF, the strength of evidence, and suggested mechanisms. Therefore, this review aimed to critically appraise the evidence on UPF and obesity. Recent Findings Observational studies demonstrate positive associations between UPF intake, weight gain, and overweight/obesity, more clearly in adults than children/adolescents. This is supported by high-quality clinical data. Several mechanisms are proposed, but current understanding is inconclusive. Summary Greater UPF consumption has been a key driver of obesity. There is a need to change the obesogenic environment to support individuals to reduce their UPF intake. The UPF concept is a novel approach that is not explained with existing nutrient- and food-based frameworks. Critical analysis of methodologies provides confidence, but future observational and experimental research outputs with greater methodological rigor will strengthen findings, which are outlined.

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“…The NOVA classification system has been criticized [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]. Some critics have argued that the NOVA system is unclearly defined and difficult to implement resulting in substantial discrepancies between different people asked to categorize the same foods according to the NOVA system [28].…”

Section: Ultra-processed Foodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A wide variety of mechanisms, with varying degrees of plausibility, have been proposed to explain why diets high in ultra-processed foods are consumed in caloric excess and may lead to obesity [27,33]. Many potentially important mechanisms involve cost, convenience, preparation time, availability, variety, portion size and marketing that affect food choice and frequency of consumption.…”

Section: Mechanisms By Which Ultra-processed Foods Promote Excess Ene...mentioning

confidence: 99%

From dearth to excess: the rise of obesity in an ultra-processed food system

Hall

2023

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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More people now have obesity than suffer from starvation thanks to our modern food system. Agriculture was transformed over the 20th century by a variety of technological advancements that relied heavily on fossil fuels. In the United States, government policies and economic incentives led to surplus production of cheap inputs to processed food industries that produced a wide variety of heavily marketed, convenient, rewarding, timesaving, and relatively inexpensive ultra-processed foods. The energy available in the food supply increased by much more than the population needs, albeit with large inequities in nutrition security. While most of the rise in per capita food availability during the late 20th and early 21st centuries in the United States resulted in increased food waste, a variety of mechanisms have been proposed by which changes in the increasingly ultra-processed food environment resulted in excess energy intake disproportionately in people genetically susceptible to obesity. As populations continue to grow, substantial investments in coordinated nutrition and agricultural research are needed to transform our current food system to one that relies less on fossil fuels, preserves biodiversity, ensures environmental health, and provides equitable access to affordable, safe and nutritious food that reduces the prevalence of chronic diet-related diseases like obesity. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘Causes of obesity: theories, conjectures and evidence (Part I)’.

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Ultraprocessed Foods and Obesity Risk: A Critical Review of Reported Mechanisms

Cited by 27 publications

References 344 publications

Higher Imported Food Patterns Are Associated with Obesity and Severe Obesity in Tuvalu: A Latent Class Analysis

Higher Imported Food Patterns Are Associated with Obesity and Severe Obesity in Tuvalu: A Latent Class Analysis

Ultra-processed Food and Obesity: What Is the Evidence?

From dearth to excess: the rise of obesity in an ultra-processed food system

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