ReviewCurrent nutrition reports2024
Ultra-processed Food and Obesity: What Is the Evidence?
Review in Current nutrition reports, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 76 papers, 3 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
76 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 85 citations in OpenAlex.
- Ultra-Processed Food Intakes and Health Outcomes in Adults Older Than 60 Years: A Systematic Review.Nutrition reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses on the Consumption of Different Food Groups and the Risk of Overweight and Obesity.Nutrients · 2025Pooled it
- Ultra-processed foods consumption and health-related outcomes: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Pooled it
- One-Year Weight Loss Following a Remote Culinary Medicine Program: A Bi-Center Randomized Controlled Trial.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2026Trial
- Almond Consumption Improves Inflammatory Profiles Independent of Weight Change: A 6-Week Randomized Controlled Trial in Adults with Obesity.Nutrients · 2026Trial
- Ultraprocessed or minimally processed diets following healthy dietary guidelines on weight and cardiometabolic health: a randomized, crossover trial.Nature medicine · 2025Trial
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- Trial
- Ultraprocessed food intake and postmenopausal breast cancer risk in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study.Journal of the National Cancer Institute · 2026Article
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- When Ultra-Processed Foods are Eaten: The Missing Dimension in Exposure Measurement for Obesity Research.Current obesity reports · 2026Review
- Article
- DietaryCurrent issues in molecular biology · 2026Article
- Individuals With Food Addiction After Metabolic And Bariatric Surgery Show Higher Consumption of Ultra-Processed Foods, Sedentary Lifestyle, Anxiety, and Sub-Optimal Body Weight Trajectories.Obesity surgery · 2026Article
- The Management of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in Adolescents with Obesity.Advances in therapy · 2026Review
- Obesogenic dietary behaviours and work environment among primary healthcare workers in Limpopo Province: A cross-sectional analysis.Journal of public health research · 2026Article
- Ultra-Processed Food Consumption Is Independently Associated with Higher HbA1c and Poor Glycemic Control in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes.Nutrients · 2026Observational
- High prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among school-age children in Tunisia: a first national cross-sectional study.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- The Purpose of Food Processing and Ultra-Processed Food: the Potential, Pitfalls and Path Forward for Public Health.Current nutrition reports · 2026Review
- Ultra-processed foods and cardiometabolic risk: from evidence to policy.npj metabolic health and disease · 2026Article
16 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
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purpose of reviewObesity is a growing global healthcare concern. A proposed driver is the recent increase in ultra-processed food (UPF) intake. However, disagreement surrounds the concept of UPF, the strength of evidence, and suggested mechanisms. Therefore, this review aimed to critically appraise the evidence on UPF and obesity. RECENT
findingsObservational studies demonstrate positive associations between UPF intake, weight gain, and overweight/obesity, more clearly in adults than children/adolescents. This is supported by high-quality clinical data. Several mechanisms are proposed, but current understanding is inconclusive. Greater UPF consumption has been a key driver of obesity. There is a need to change the obesogenic environment to support individuals to reduce their UPF intake. The UPF concept is a novel approach that is not explained with existing nutrient- and food-based frameworks. Critical analysis of methodologies provides confidence, but future observational and experimental research outputs with greater methodological rigor will strengthen findings, which are outlined.
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.