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Highly processed food consumption and its association with overall diet quality in a nationwide sample of 1,318 Japanese children and adolescents: A cross-sectional analysis based on 8-day weighed dietary records
There is limited evidence on how highly processed foods (HPFs) impact the overall diet quality of children and adolescents in Asian countries. Shinozaki et al. (2024) conducted this cross-sectional study to investigate this association specifically in Japanese youth. Using the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill framework, foods were categorized based on processing stages into four distinct processing levels, collected from 8-day dietary records from volunteers across 32 prefectures in Japan from 2016 to 2020. Two scenarios were considered for food classification: one estimating HPF consumption conservatively categorizing dishes consumed outside the home environment with disaggregation into individual ingredients (deemed low-estimate scenario) and the other categorizing dishes consumed outside the home environment as HPFs without disaggregation of food into individual ingredients (deemed high-estimate scenario). In total, 1,318 Japanese kids and teenagers between the ages of 3 and 17 took part in the study. The Nutrient-Rich Food Index 9.3 and the Healthy Eating Index-2020 were used to assess the quality of diets. The authors found that HPFs contributed 27.3% to 44.3% of total energy intake, depending on the scenario. Confectioneries were major contributors in the conservative scenario, while cereals and starchy foods dominated in the high-estimate scenario. Higher HPF intake was linked to poorer scores on the Nutrient-Rich Food Index 9.3 and the Healthy Eating Index-2020 in both scenarios. These findings suggest that HPFs constitute a significant portion of energy intake among Japanese children and adolescents and are linked to poorer diet quality. Reducing HPF consumption could enhance overall diet quality in this population. Further research is required to prove that HPF consumption and food quality are causally related among Japanese youth. [NPID: Highly processed foods, ultra-processed foods, children, adolescent, diet quality, Japan]
Year: 2024
