ReviewCurrent obesity reports2017
Ultra-processed Food Intake and Obesity: What Really Matters for Health-Processing or Nutrient Content?
Review in Current obesity reports, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 237 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
237 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 470 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ultra-Processed Foods and Mental Health in Children and Adolescents: Evidence from a Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2026Pooled it
- Ultra-Processed Food Intakes and Health Outcomes in Adults Older Than 60 Years: A Systematic Review.Nutrition reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Mediterranean Diet, Obesity-Related Metabolic Cardiovascular Disorders, and Environmental Sustainability: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- Ultra-processed food consumption and the risk of incident chronic kidney disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies.Renal failure · 2024Pooled it
- Causality or confounding? Applying E values to examine associations between ultra-processed food consumption and risk of weight gain.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2024Pooled it
- Overnutrition is a risk factor for iron, but not for zinc or vitamin A deficiency in children and young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ global health · 2024Pooled it
- Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Ultra-Processed Foods and Nutritional Dietary Profile: A Meta-Analysis of Nationally Representative Samples.Nutrients · 2021Pooled it
- Trial
- Isocaloric replacement of ultraprocessed foods was associated with greater weight loss in the POUNDS Lost trial.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2024Trial
- Relationship between Ketones, Ghrelin, and, Appetite on Isocaloric Diets with Varying Carbohydrate Quality and Amount: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial in People with Obesity (CARBFUNC).The Journal of nutrition · 2023Trial
- A secondary analysis of maternal ultra-processed food intake in women with overweight or obesity and associations with gestational weight gain and neonatal body composition outcomes.Journal of mother and child · 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
- Unhealthy life habits associated with self-induced vomiting and laxative misuse in Brazilian adolescents.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Article
- Rejecting Health as a Justification for Junk Food Taxes.Journal of bioethical inquiry · 2026Article
- Unhealthy Food Television Advertising and Body Weight in Mexican Children.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Micronutrient risk with GLP-1 receptor and dual incretin agonists in obesity: Mechanistic pathways, clinical signals, and a monitoring framework.Obesity pillars · 2026Review
- Article
177 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
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
purpose of reviewThe aim of this narrative review was to summarize and critique recent evidence evaluating the association between ultra-processed food intake and obesity. RECENT
findingsFour of five studies found that higher purchases or consumption of ultra-processed food was associated with overweight/obesity. Additional studies reported relationships between ultra-processed food intake and higher fasting glucose, metabolic syndrome, increases in total and LDL cholesterol, and risk of hypertension. It remains unclear whether associations can be attributed to processing itself or the nutrient content of ultra-processed foods. Only three of nine studies used a prospective design, and the potential for residual confounding was high. Recent research provides fairly consistent support for the association of ultra-processed food intake with obesity and related cardiometabolic outcomes. There is a clear need for further studies, particularly those using longitudinal designs and with sufficient control for confounding, to potentially confirm these findings in different populations and to determine whether ultra-processed food consumption is associated with obesity independent of nutrient content.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.