ArticleFrontiers in nutrition2025
Associations between ultra-processed food consumption and duration of exercise with psychological symptoms in Chinese adolescents: a nationwide cross-sectional survey.
Article in Frontiers in nutrition, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- The independent and joint associations of community space environmental satisfaction, and parents' educational attainment with psychological symptoms among Chinese adolescents.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- The impact of ultra-processed foods on social development of adolescent: differences by gender and only child status.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Globally, ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption among adolescents is increasing, and the duration of exercise is decreasing, which has a serious negative impact on adolescents' physical and mental health. In addition, the prevalence of psychological symptoms among Chinese adolescents is also increasing, which affects adolescents' lives and academic performance. However, the association between UPF consumption, duration of exercise, and psychological symptoms among Chinese adolescents is still unclear. This study aims to analyze the association between UPF consumption, exercise duration, and psychological symptoms in Chinese adolescents. Methods: This study used cross-sectional data from 2023 on 14,445 adolescents aged 13-18 years in five regions of China. In this study, a self-assessment questionnaire was used to assess UPF consumption and duration of exercise, and the Brief Instrument on Psychological Health of Youths (BIOPHY) questionnaire was used to assess adolescents' psychological symptoms. In addition, factors affecting participants' psychological symptoms were evaluated for height, weight, grip strength, standing long jump, father's education, mother's education, commuting style, and sleep duration. The t-test, chi-square test, binary logistic regression analysis, and ordered logistic regression analysis in a generalized linear model were used to assess the existence of associations between UPF consumption, duration of exercise with psychological symptoms. Results: The prevalence rates of emotional problems, behavioral problems, and social adjustment difficulties among Chinese adolescents were 28.2, 28.0, and 17.6%, respectively; and the prevalence rate of psychological symptoms among Chinese adolescents was 22.0%. Adolescents with lower exercise durations (<30 min/day) and higher UPF consumption (>6 times/week) were 1.54 times more likely to experience psychological symptoms compared to their peers with healthier behaviors. Conclusion: Ultra-processed food consumption and duration of exercise were associated with psychological symptoms in Chinese adolescents. The higher the UPF consumption and the shorter the duration of exercise, the higher the prevalence of psychological symptoms. These findings highlight the need for public health strategies focusing on reducing UPF consumption and promoting regular exercise to mitigate psychological symptoms among adolescents.
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.