Abstract
This study aimed to determine the association between consumption of ultra-processed foods and obesity among Korean adults. We used the data of 7364 participants (men 3219, women 4145) aged 19–64 years from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), 2016–2018. Food items were classified using the NOVA food classification system, depending on the extent and purpose of food processing: (1) unprocessed or minimally processed foods, (2) processed culinary ingredients, (3) processed foods, and (4) ultra-processed foods. Consumption of ultra-processed foods accounted for 26.8% of the total energy intake. After adjusting for potential confounders including sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics, subjects with the highest consumption of ultra-processed foods (fourth quartile of % energy intake from ultra-processed foods) had 0.61 kg/m2 higher body mass index (BMI; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.23–0.99, p-trend 0.0047), 1.34 cm higher waist circumference (WC; 95% CI 0.35–2.34, p-trend 0.0146), 51% higher odds of being obese (BMI > 25 kg/m2; odds ratio [OR] 1.51, 95% CI 1.14–1.99, p-trend 0.0037), and 64% higher odds of abdominal obesity (men: WC ≥ 90 cm, women: WC ≥ 85 cm; OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.24–2.16, p-trend 0.0004) than those with the lowest consumption (first quartile) among women. However, no association was found in men. These findings provide evidence that high consumption of ultra-processed foods is positively associated with obesity in Korean women. Further studies with a large-scale cohort or intervention trial are needed to identify the mechanism of associations between consumption of ultra-processed foods and health-related outcomes including obesity in Korea.
Highlights
The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that the worldwide prevalence of obesity has nearly tripled since 1975, and 13% of adults aged ≥18 years were obese in2016 [1]
(3) Abdominal obesity was defined as waist circumference ≥90 cm for men and ≥85 cm for women. In this nationally representative cross-sectional study, we found that Korean adults consumed 26.8% of energy from ultra-processed foods
We observed a positive association between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and obesity after adjusting for potential confounders in women, but not in men
Summary
The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that the worldwide prevalence of obesity has nearly tripled since 1975, and 13% of adults aged ≥18 years were obese in2016 [1]. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that the worldwide prevalence of obesity has nearly tripled since 1975, and 13% of adults aged ≥18 years were obese in. Global diets have shifted remarkably from traditional diets based on freshly prepared meals to modern diets composed of high amounts of packaged and processed foods [2]. Some ecological studies have shown that consumption of ultraprocessed foods has increased continuously, and this shift in modern diets has coincided with an increasing prevalence of obesity [3]. Sales of ultra-processed products increased by 43.7% from 2000 to 2013 [4]. Consumption of ultra-processed foods is currently higher in high-income countries, but it has been steadily increasing in middle-income countries [10]
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