top of page

Data

Year of publication

2016

Kind

Quantitative

Design

Cross-sectional

Classification

NOVA

Country studied

Canada

Data

Secondary

Data collected

One 24 hours recall

Study setting

Household

Age group of participants

All ages/2+

Participant sex

Mixed

Target population

General

Sample size

n= 33694 (participants)

Consumption of ultra-processed foods predicts diet quality in Canada

goal

Describes food consumption patterns in Canada according to the types of food processing using the NOVA classification and investigates the association between consumption of ultra-processed foods and the nutrient profile of the diet.

Results

In 2004, 48% of calories consumed by Canadians came from ultra-processed foods. Consumption of such foods was high amongst all socioeconomic groups, and particu-larly in children and adolescents. As a group, ultra-processed foods were grossly nutritionally inferior tonon-ultra-processed foods. After adjusting for covariates, a significant and positive relationship was found between the dietary share of ultra-processed foods and the content in carbohydrates, free sugars,total and saturated fats and energy density, while an inverse relationship was observed with the dietary content in protein,fiber, vitamins A, C, D, B6 and B12, niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, as well as zinc, iron,magnesium, calcium, phosphorus and potassium. Lowering the dietary share of ultra-processed foodsand raising consumption of hand-made meals from unprocessed or minimally processed foods wouldsubstantially improve the diet quality of Canadian.

Authors

Moubarac J-C, Batal M, Louzada ML, Martinez Steele E, Monteiro CA.

Log

Appetite

DOIs

bottom of page