Association between ultraprocessed food consumption and obesity in US adults: an analysis of NHANES 2009-2018

Abstract

Introduction. We propose the following hypothesis: ultraprocessed foods in the global food supply contribute to the worldwide increase in obesity. Objective. To analyze the association between higher consumption of ultraprocessed foods and the obesity in adulthood in the United States. Materials and methods. United States National Survey of Health and Nutrition Examination (NHANES) (2009-2018) data were used. We included subjects of both sexes, aged between 18-64 years old, with anthropometric, health, income, race/ethnicity and physical activity (PA) data. The association between the ultraprocessed food intake and obesity was calculated using a binomial logistic regression. In addition, we also evaluated a subsample with subjects who did not consume more than their adequate daily energy requirements. Results. We evaluated 13,310 subjects in total, and 4,788 in our subsample. Of these 33% were committed to obesity, and in the subsample the prevalence was even higher, around 49%. In our analysis, we found five factors (ultraprocessed food consumption, sex, age, race/ethnicity, and sedentary lifestyle) that were positively associated with the development of obesity. Compared to subjects who consumed less than 20% of ultraprocessed foods, subjects who consumed between 20 to 40% of ultraprocessed food had 16% more odds of developing obesity [95%CI:1.06–1.26]. For the subsample, the odds were even higher, being around 27% [95%CI:1.11–1.46]. Conclusions. Our results showed a positive association between obesity and the amount of ultraprocessed food consumption, even though, in those who consumed no more than their adequate daily energy requirements.