Greater consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with early changes in insulin-related measures among nondiabetic children, according to a study published on Jul. 21. The research highlights the need for longer-term studies to better understand these associations.
The study, published in the journal Nutrients, investigated whether intake of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) is linked to insulin secretion and sensitivity. UPFs are defined as highly industrially processed products containing ingredients and additives not commonly found in home kitchens, such as hydrolyzed proteins and high-fructose corn syrup. Consumption of these foods has increased globally over the past decade due to urbanization and shifts in food industry policies.
Researchers conducted a secondary analysis of data from the San Antonio Family Assessment of Metabolic Risk Indicators in Youth (SAFARI) study, which included 673 participants aged 6–17 from predominantly lower-income Mexican American families enrolled between September 2005 and May 2010. The analysis focused on dietary information collected through a food frequency questionnaire and various indices measuring insulin sensitivity and secretion.
Findings showed that UPFs accounted for an average of 53.3% of total energy intake among participants. After adjusting for confounders, higher UPF scores were significantly associated with seven out of nineteen measured insulin-related traits at the conventional p < 0.05 threshold—including lower insulin sensitivity (measured by HOMA_s and QUICKI), higher fasting insulin levels, greater insulin resistance (HOMA_IR), lower Matsuda index values, and increased values for both the insulinogenic index at 30 minutes and disposition index at 30 minutes during oral glucose tolerance tests.
However, only the association with the 30-minute insulinogenic index remained statistically significant after applying stricter Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Adjusting for total calorie intake weakened most associations between UPF consumption and fasting indexes but strengthened those related to fasting glucose-based indexes.
The authors noted that while their findings suggest early metabolic effects related to high UPF intake in children, limitations include reliance on self-reported dietary data not specifically designed for quantifying UPFs, potential misclassification errors, varying sample sizes across outcomes measured by OGTTs, and use of data collected more than two decades ago. They emphasized that causality cannot be established from this cross-sectional analysis, but indicated plans to recall SAFARI cohort members for future longitudinal follow-up.
