ArticleBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2022
Maternal consumption of ultra-processed foods and subsequent risk of offspring overweight or obesity: results from three prospective cohort studies.
Article in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The association between ultra-processed food and common pregnancy adverse outcomes: a dose-response systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Pooled it
- Trial
- Associations of glyphosate exposure in pregnancy with preterm birth: a longitudinal birth cohort study.Environmental pollution (Barking, Essex : 1987) · 2026Article
- Placental Pathophysiology and Developmental Programming of Adult Cardiometabolic Risk: A Narrative Review of Pregnancy Exposures.Pathophysiology : the official journal of the International Society for Pathophysiology · 2026Review
- Associations Between Maternal Pre-Pregnancy Dietary Patterns and Body Composition in Preschool Children: A Prospective Cohort Study.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Peroxiredoxins in the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease: Insights from Maternal Under and Overnutrition - A Critical-Interpretative Scoping Review.Cell biochemistry and biophysics · 2026Review
- Industrial Food Systems as Environmental Drivers of Women's Health and Childhood Obesity: A Cross-National Ecological Study.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Socio-demographic and economic factors associated with unhealthy food consumption among women of reproductive age in Tanzania: a nationwide cross-sectional study.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2026Article
- Associations between food deserts, food swamps, and ultra-processed food intake in childhood.Revista paulista de pediatria : orgao oficial da Sociedade de Pediatria de Sao Paulo · 2026Article
- Review
- Early-onset colorectal cancer as an emerging disease of metabolic dysregulation.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2025Review
- Impact of Maternal Nutritional Status and Mental Health on Children with Obesity: Relationship Between Anthropometric Parameters, Food Addiction, and Stress.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025Article
- Magnitude and associated factors of unhealthy food consumption among women in lesotho: evidence from the demographic and health survey 2023-2024.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Sifting Through the Noise: Identifying Core Fundamentals of Healthy Eating Early in the Life Cycle.Current nutrition reports · 2025Review
- Ultra-processed food consumption and cardiometabolic risk in Canada: a cross-sectional analysis of the Canadian health measures survey.Nutrition & metabolism · 2025Article
- Associations of maternal diet with nutritional and chemical exposure markers in human milk from the LACTACOL cohort of preterm infants.European journal of nutrition · 2025Article
- Maternal macronutrient intake at pregnancy and offspring growth trajectory through childhood: a prospective analysis in the Growing Up Today Study 2 cohort.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2025Article
- Classification and identification of risk factors for type 2 diabetes.World journal of diabetes · 2025Review
- Ultra-processed food intake and its association with obesity risk factors, Mediterranean diet, and nutrient intake of adults.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Consumption of Ultraprocessed Foods Among Brazilian Pregnant Women Attended in Primary Healthcare.Journal of nutrition and metabolism · 2025Article
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15 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess whether maternal ultra-processed food intake during peripregnancy and during the child rearing period is associated with offspring risk of overweight or obesity during childhood and adolescence.
designPopulation based prospective cohort study.
settingThe Nurses' Health Study II (NHSII) and the Growing Up Today Study (GUTS I and II) in the United States.
participants19 958 mother-child (45% boys, aged 7-17 years at study enrollment) pairs with a median follow-up of 4 years (interquartile range 2-5 years) until age 18 or the onset of overweight or obesity, including a subsample of 2925 mother-child pairs with information on peripregnancy diet.
main outcome measuresMultivariable adjusted, log binomial models with generalized estimating equations and an exchangeable correlation structure were used to account for correlations between siblings and to estimate the relative risk of offspring overweight or obesity defined by the International Obesity Task Force.
results2471 (12.4%) offspring developed overweight or obesity in the full analytic cohort. After adjusting for established maternal risk factors and offspring's ultra-processed food intake, physical activity, and sedentary time, maternal consumption of ultra-processed foods during the child rearing period was associated with overweight or obesity in offspring, with a 26% higher risk in the group with the highest maternal ultra-processed food consumption (group 5) versus the lowest consumption group (group 1; relative risk 1.26, 95% confidence interval 1.08 to 1.47, P for trend<0.001). In the subsample with information on peripregnancy diet, while rates were higher, peripregnancy ultra-processed food intake was not significantly associated with an increased risk of offspring overweight or obesity (n=845 (28.9%); group 5
conclusionsMaternal consumption of ultra-processed food during the child rearing period was associated with an increased risk of overweight or obesity in offspring, independent of maternal and offspring lifestyle risk factors. Further study is needed to confirm these findings and to understand the underlying biological mechanisms and environmental determinants. These data support the importance of refining dietary recommendations and the development of programs to improve nutrition for women of reproductive age to promote offspring health.
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