SynthesisPublic health nutrition2018
Consumption of ultra-processed foods and body fat during childhood and adolescence: a systematic review.
Synthesis in Public health nutrition, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 170 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
170 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- ILSI Europe Systematic Review: The Impact of Digestible and Nondigestible Carbohydrate Consumption for Toddlers (1-4 Years) in Relation to Health Outcomes.Nutrition reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Adoption, implementation, and sustainability of early childhood feeding, nutrition and active play interventions in real-world settings: a systematic review.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2023Pooled it
- Unhealthy Food and Beverage Consumption in Children and Risk of Overweight and Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2022Pooled it
- Ultra-Processed Foods and Nutritional Dietary Profile: A Meta-Analysis of Nationally Representative Samples.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- Ultra-processed food and the risk of overweight and obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2020Pooled it
- Food processing and cardiometabolic risk factors: a systematic review.Revista de saude publica · 2020Pooled it
- Dietary Energy Density and Its Association with Overweight or Obesity in Adolescents: A Systematic Review of Observational Studies.Nutrients · 2018Pooled it
- Effectiveness of an Intervention to Prevent Ultra-Processed Foods and Added Sugar in the First Year of Life: A Multicentre Randomised Controlled Trial in Brazil.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2025Trial
- Testing a Web-Based Interactive Comic Tool to Decrease Obesity Risk Among Racial and Ethnic Minority Preadolescents: Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR formative research · 2025Trial
- Ultra-processed food consumption and BMI-Z among children at risk for obesity from low-income households.Pediatric obesity · 2023Trial
- Impacts of a Multi-Professional Family versus Isolated Intervention on Food Level Processing in Overweight Adolescents: A Randomized Trial.Nutrients · 2023Trial
- Ultra-processed foods and early childhood caries in 0-3-year-olds enrolled at Primary Healthcare Centers in Southern Brazil.Public health nutrition · 2021Trial
- The impact of the Nutri-Score front-of-pack nutrition label on purchasing intentions of unprocessed and processed foods: post-hoc analyses from three randomized controlled trials.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2021Trial
- Effects of thePublic health nutrition · 2020Trial
- Rango Cards, a digital game designed to promote a healthy diet: a randomized study protocol.BMC public health · 2018Trial
- The temporal relationship among socioeconomic vulnerability, dietary intake, and childhood obesity across six European countries: longitudinal results from the Feel4Diabetes-study.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Observational
- The impact of Ka Ora, Ka Ako, New Zealand's free, healthy school lunch program on children's health and wellbeing.BMC nutrition · 2026Article
- School food environment: analysis of school canteens in Brazilian capitals and implications for public policy.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Dietary intake temporal patterns during early childhood in relation to diet quality in middle childhood and the role of family characteristics: the GECKO Drenthe cohort.European journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Body composition among 6-7 years-old children: data from the 2015 Pelotas (Brazil) Birth Cohort Study.BMC pediatrics · 2026Article
110 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo review the available literature on the association between consumption of ultra-processed foods and body fat during childhood and adolescence.
designA systematic review was conducted in the PubMed, Web of Science and LILACS databases. Studies that evaluated the association between consumption of ultra-processed food (exposure) and body fat (outcome) during childhood and adolescence were eligible. SUBJECTS: Healthy children and adolescents.
resultsTwenty-six studies that evaluated groups of ultra-processed foods (such as snacks, fast foods, junk foods and convenience foods) or specific ultra-processed foods (soft drinks/sweetened beverages, sweets, chocolate and ready-to-eat cereals) were selected. Most of the studies (n 15) had a cohort design. Consumption was generally evaluated by means of FFQ or food records; and body composition, by means of double indirect methods (bioelectrical impedance analysis and skinfolds). Most of the studies that evaluated consumption of groups of ultra-processed foods and soft drinks/sweetened beverages found positive associations with body fat.
conclusionsOur review showed that most studies have found positive associations between consumption of ultra-processed food and body fat during childhood and adolescence. There is a need to use a standardized classification that considers the level of food processing to promote comparability between studies.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.