ArticlePublic health nutrition2015
Trends in consumption of ultra-processed foods and obesity in Sweden between 1960 and 2010.
Article in Public health nutrition, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 118 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
118 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Impact of preconception, pregnancy, and postpartum culinary nutrition education interventions: a systematic review.Nutrition reviews · 2021Pooled it
- Ultra-Processed Food Availability and Noncommunicable Diseases: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Pooled it
- The Effect of Low-Fat and Low-Carbohydrate Diets on Weight Loss and Lipid Levels: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Nutrients · 2020Pooled it
- Consumption of ultra-processed foods and health outcomes: a systematic review of epidemiological studies.Nutrition journal · 2020Pooled it
- Integrative development of a short screening questionnaire of highly processed food consumption (sQ-HPF).The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2022Trial
- Trial
- A Nutrition Education Intervention Using NOVA Is More Effective Than MyPlate Alone: A Proof-of-Concept Randomized Controlled Trial.Nutrients · 2019Trial
- Consumption of ultra-processed foods and cancer risk: results from NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2018Trial
- Quantifying the availability of hyper-palatable foods in US food stores and household purchasing behaviour.Public health nutrition · 2026Article
- Therapeutic nutrition strategies for the shared pathophysiology of obesity and sleep-disordered breathings.Nutrition journal · 2025Review
- Ultra-Processed Foods and Metabolic Dysfunction: A Narrative Review of Dietary Processing, Behavioral Drivers and Chronic Disease Risk.Metabolites · 2025Review
- The role of ultra-processed food in obesity.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2025Review
- Assessing changes in non-alcoholic sugary beverage prices in Agincourt following South Africa's Health Promotion Levy: A pre- and post-implementation study.Journal of public health research · 2025Article
- The Effect of a Mobile Health Dietary Education Intervention on Ultra-processed Food Consumption in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Current developments in nutrition · 2025Article
- The Meal Type Rather than the Meal Sequence Affects the Meal Duration, Number of Chews, and Chewing Tempo.Nutrients · 2025Article
- Ultra-processed food consumption and overweight in children, adolescents and young adults: Long-term data from the Kiel Obesity Prevention Study (KOPS).Pediatric obesity · 2025Article
- The association between the health promotion levy and employment in South Africa: an interrupted time series analysis.BMC nutrition · 2025Article
- Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Obesity: A Narrative Review of Their Association and Potential Mechanisms.Journal of obesity & metabolic syndrome · 2025Review
- Applying the Nova food classification to food product databases using discriminative ingredients: a methodological proposal.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Higher ultra-processed food consumption is associated with poor nutritional quality but not with obesity in Israeli adults.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
58 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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2 authors.
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Abstract
objectiveTo investigate how consumption of ultra-processed foods has changed in Sweden in relation to obesity.
designNationwide ecological analysis of changes in processed foods along with corresponding changes in obesity. Trends in per capita food consumption during 1960-2010 were investigated using data from the Swedish Board of Agriculture. Food items were classified as group 1 (unprocessed/minimally processed), group 2 (processed culinary ingredients) or group 3 (3·1, processed food products; and 3·2, ultra-processed products). Obesity prevalence data were pooled from the peer-reviewed literature, Statistics Sweden and the WHO Global Health Observatory.
settingNationwide analysis in Sweden, 1960-2010. SUBJECTS: Swedish nationals aged 18 years and older.
resultsDuring the study period consumption of group 1 foods (minimal processing) decreased by 2 %, while consumption of group 2 foods (processed ingredients) decreased by 34 %. Consumption of group 3·1 foods (processed food products) increased by 116 % and group 3·2 foods (ultra-processed products) increased by 142 %. Among ultra-processed products, there were particularly large increases in soda (315 %; 22 v. 92 litres/capita per annum) and snack foods such as crisps and candies (367 %; 7 v. 34 kg/capita per annum). In parallel to these changes in ultra-processed products, rates of adult obesity increased from 5 % in 1980 to over 11 % in 2010.
conclusionsThe consumption of ultra-processed products (i.e. foods with low nutritional value but high energy density) has increased dramatically in Sweden since 1960, which mirrors the increased prevalence of obesity. Future research should clarify the potential causal role of ultra-processed products in weight gain and obesity.
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