Association between ultraprocessed food intake and cardiovascular health in US adults: a cross-sectional analysis of the NHANES 2011–2016

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Am J Clin Nutr
• Personal Author:
  Zhang, Zefeng ; Jackson, Sandra L ; Martinez, Euridice ; Gillespie, Cathleen ; Yang, Quanhe
• Description:
  Background:
  
  Higher intake of ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) might be associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
  
  Objectives:
  
  Our objective was to examine the association between usual percentage of calories (%kcal) from UPFs and the American Heart Association’s “Life’s Simple 7” cardiovascular health (CVH) metrics in US adults.
  
  Methods:
  
  We analyzed data from 11,246 adults aged ≥20 y from the NHANES 2011–2016 (a cross-sectional, nationally representative survey). UPF designation was assigned on the basis of the NOVA classification system, according to the extent and purpose of food processing. Each CVH metric was given a score of 0, 1, or 2 representing poor, intermediate, or ideal health, respectively. Scores of the 6 metrics (excluding diet) were summed, and CVH was categorized as inadequate (0–4), average (5–8), or optimum (9–12). We used the National Cancer Institute’s methods to estimate the usual %kcal from UPFs, and multivariable linear and multinomial logistic regression to assess the association between UPFs and CVH, adjusted for age, sex, race and Hispanic origin, education, and poverty.
  
  Results:
  
  The weighted prevalence of inadequate, average, and optimum CVH was 8.0%, 51.7%, and 40.3%, respectively. The mean usual %kcal from UPFs was 55.4%, and midpoint of quartiles of intake ranged from 40.4% (quartile 1) to 70.5% (quartile 4). Every 5% increase in calories from UPFs was associated with 0.14 points lower CVH score (P < 0.001). The adjusted ORs for inadequate CVH were 1.40 (95% CI: 1.23, 1.60), 1.82 (1.45, 2.29), and 2.57 (1.79, 3.70), respectively, comparing quartiles 2, 3, and 4 with quartile 1 of UPF intake. The pattern of association was largely consistent across subgroups.
  
  Conclusions:
  
  Usual %kcal from UPFs represented more than half of total calorie intake in US adults. A graded inverse association between %kcal from UPFs and CVH was observed.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Adult Aged Article Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular Health Cross-Sectional Studies Feeding Behavior Female Food Handling Health Status Humans Male Middle Aged NHANES Nutrition Surveys Odds Ratio Ultraprocessed Foods United States Usual Percentage Of Calories Young Adult

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• Source:
  Am J Clin Nutr. 113(2):428-436
• Pubmed ID:
  33021623
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC10097423
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  113
• Issue:
  2
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:cebc3a3484dcb7c190a9bf11baa4866f51a21ffd06609a09f89eb375d665f232
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/127174/cdc_127174_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 536.39 KB ]