ArticleContemporary clinical trials2023
The influence of ultra-processed food consumption on reward processing and energy intake: Background, design, and methods of a controlled feeding trial in adolescents and young adults.
Article in Contemporary clinical trials, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ultraprocessed Food Intake, Cognition, and Executive Function in Adults: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2026Pooled it
- The Influence of Ultraprocessed Food Consumption on Energy Intake in Emerging Adulthood: A Controlled Feeding Trial.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2026Trial
- Seeing Oneself in the Feed: Racialized Targeting in Food Marketing and Its Impact on Adolescents' Visual Interest and Unhealthy Food Preferences.Journal of experimental social psychology · 2026Article
- Prospective association between baseline ultra-processed food consumption and future adherence to the 24-h movement guidelines in children: findings from the SENDO project.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Article
- Effects of Controlled Diets High in and Free of Ultraprocessed Food on the Brain of Emerging Adults.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Exposure to processing from ultraprocessed diets and in feeding studies.Current research in food science · 2026Article
- The impact of ultra-processed foods on pediatric health.Obesity pillars · 2025Review
- Restoring a Healthy Relationship with Food by Decoupling Stress and Eating: A Translational Review of Nutrition and Mental Health.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Ultraprocessed food, physical activity, and executive function: correlation and comparative study of university students in Mexico City and Salamanca.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Article
- Ultra-Processed Foods: A Narrative Review of the Impact on the Human Gut Microbiome and Variations in Classification Methods.Nutrients · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe greatest age-related weight gain occurs in the early/mid-20s. Overall dietary quality among adolescents and emerging adults (age 18-25) is poor, with ultra-processed foods (UPF) representing more than two-thirds of adolescents' total energy intake (i.e., 68%). UPF consumption may impact cognitive and neurobiological factors that influence dietary decision-making and energy intake (EI). To date, no research has addressed this in this population.
methodsParticipants aged 18-25 will undergo two 14-day controlled feeding periods (81% UPF, 0% UPF) using a randomly assigned crossover design, with a 4-week washout between conditions. Brain response to a UPF-rich milkshake, as well as behavioral measures of executive function, will be evaluated before and after each diet. Following each diet, measurements include ad libitum buffet meal EI, food selection, eating rate, and eating in the absence of hunger (EAH). Prior to initiating recruitment, controlled diet menus, buffet, and EAH snacks were developed and evaluated for palatability. Sensory and texture attributes of buffet and EAH snack foods were also evaluated.
resultsOverall diet palatability was rated "like very much" (8)/"like moderately"(7) (UPF: 7.6 ± 1.0; Non-UPF: 6.8 ± 1.5). Subjective hardness rating (range = 1-9 [1 = soft, 9 = hard] was similar between UPF and Non-UPF buffet and snack items (UPF:4.22 ± 2.19, Non-UPF: 4.70 ± 2.03), as was the objective measure of hardness (UPF: 2874.33 ± 2497.06 g, Non-UPF: 2243.32 ± 1700.51 g).
conclusionsFindings could contribute to an emerging neurobiological understanding of the effects of UPF consumption including energy overconsumption and weight gain among individuals at a critical developmental stage.
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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.