Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32792031›Full record

SynthesisThe British journal of nutrition2021

Consumption of ultra-processed foods and health status: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

G Pagliai, M Dinu, M P Madarena, M Bonaccio, L Iacoviello, F Sofi

2 registry-linked trialsOpen access · hybridAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in The British journal of nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 479 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
479citing papers in PubMed, 8 pooled it
95.9field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT06252701 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2024, after this paper: background citation

Assessing the Feasibility and Acceptability of the Reduction of Ultra-processed Foods From the Diets of a Subset of Patients With Depression - A Pilot Open Label Crossover Trial.

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of California, San FranciscoRan2024 to 2025Enrolled20ConditionsDepression, Major Depressive Disorder, Weight Gain, ObesityArmsReduction of Ultra-processed foods
NCT06737276 nacompletednot on this mapstarted 2022, after this paper: background citation

Dietary Advice Training in Nursing Using Simulation and Interactive Fiction: a Randomised Controlled Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of CadizRan2022 to 2022Enrolled60ConditionsSimulation Training, Computer Simulation, Diet, Food, and Nutrition, Nutrition AssessmentArmsInteractive fiction activities, Role-play simulation
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

479 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 970 citations in OpenAlex.

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  14. Ultra-Processed Food Intake and its Association With Eating Disorders: A Scoping Review.European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association · 2026
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419 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

G PagliaiDepartment of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, 50134Florence, Italy.
M DinuDepartment of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, 50134Florence, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-1687-2527
M P MadarenaDepartment of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, 50134Florence, Italy.
M BonaccioDepartment of Epidemiology and Prevention, IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli, 86077Isernia, Italy.
L IacovielloDepartment of Epidemiology and Prevention, IRCCS Neuromed, Pozzilli, 86077Isernia, Italy.
F SofiDepartment of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, University of Florence, 50134Florence, Italy.
Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi · ITIstituto Neurologico Mediterraneo · ITUniversity of Florence · ITUniversity of Insubria · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Increasing evidence suggests that high consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) is associated with an increase in non-communicable diseases, overweight and obesity. The present study systematically reviewed all observational studies that investigated the association between UPF consumption and health status. A comprehensive search of MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science and Google Scholar was conducted, and reference lists of included articles were checked. Only cross-sectional and prospective cohort studies were included. At the end of the selection process, twenty-three studies (ten cross-sectional and thirteen prospective cohort studies) were included in the systematic review. As regards the cross-sectional studies, the highest UPF consumption was associated with a significant increase in the risk of overweight/obesity (+39 %), high waist circumference (+39 %), low HDL-cholesterol levels (+102 %) and the metabolic syndrome (+79 %), while no significant associations with hypertension, hyperglycaemia or hypertriacylglycerolaemia were observed. For prospective cohort studies evaluating a total population of 183 491 participants followed for a period ranging from 3·5 to 19 years, highest UPF consumption was found to be associated with increased risk of all-cause mortality in five studies (risk ratio (RR) 1·25, 95 % CI 1·14, 1·37; P < 0·00001), increased risk of CVD in three studies (RR 1·29, 95 % CI 1·12, 1·48; P = 0·0003), cerebrovascular disease in two studies (RR 1·34, 95 % CI 1·07, 1·68; P = 0·01) and depression in two studies (RR 1·20, 95 % CI 1·03, 1·40; P = 0·02). In conclusion, increased UPF consumption was associated, although in a limited number of studies, with a worse cardiometabolic risk profile and a higher risk of CVD, cerebrovascular disease, depression and all-cause mortality.

Indexed as

Food HandlingHealth StatusCohort StudiesCross-Sectional StudiesDietHumansCVDHealthMeta-analysisMortalityUltra-processed food

Identifiers

PMID32792031
PMCPMC7844609
OpenAlexW3049152847

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

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.