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Description and evaluation of an ultra-processed food consumption score for children
Anna Müller1, Caroline Dos Santos Costa1, Romina Buffarini2
1Universidade Federal de Pelotas. Faculdade de Medicina. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Epidemiologia. Pelotas, RS, Brasil.
Insights
A new ultra-processed food screener accurately reflects children's dietary intake. This tool helps assess the participation of ultra-processed foods in early childhood diets.
Area of Science:
- Nutritional Epidemiology
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Public Health Nutrition
Background:
- Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are increasingly prevalent in children's diets.
- Assessing UPF consumption is crucial for understanding its impact on child health.
- Existing methods for dietary assessment can be time-consuming and resource-intensive.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a novel screener for assessing ultra-processed food consumption in early childhood.
- To evaluate the validity of the screener's score in representing UPF's dietary share.
- To provide a practical tool for researchers and clinicians.
Main Methods:
- A convenience subsample (n=365) from the 2015 Pelotas Birth Cohort was utilized.
- Mothers completed a 16-item UPF subgroup screener and a 24-hour food recall (24hR).
- Linear regression and Pabak index assessed the association and agreement between the screener score and 24hR-derived UPF energy percentage.
Main Results:
- The UPF consumption score showed a significant positive association with the percentage of energy from UPFs (24hR).
- Substantial agreement was found between the screener score intervals and UPF energy fifths (Pabak index = 0.65).
- The screener demonstrated its ability to estimate UPF consumption levels.
Conclusions:
- The developed UPF consumption screener is a practical and agile instrument.
- The screener's score effectively reflects the participation of ultra-processed foods in children's diets.
- This tool can aid in monitoring and evaluating UPF intake in pediatric populations.
Objective:
To present a screener for consumption of ultra-processed foods for children in early childhood, evaluating the ability of the score generated by this screener to reflect the participation of ultra-processed foods in children's diets.
Methods:
This study was conducted with a convenience subsample of the 2015 Pelotas Birth Cohort (n = 365). The mothers of the participating children answered a food consumption questionnaire the day before the interview (screener) containing 16 subgroups of ultra-processed foods, followed by a traditional 24-hour food recall (24hR). Each participant's ultra-processed food consumption score corresponded to the number of food subgroups consumed and the percentage of energy derived from the participation of ultra-processed foods in the diet on the same day was calculated from the answers in the 24hR. The association between the score and the percentage of energy from ultra-processed foods was tested using linear regression models. The degree of agreement between the classification of participants according to approximate fifths of the percentage of calories from ultra-processed foods and according to the score intervals was assessed using the Pabak index.
Results:
The average percentage share of ultra-processed foods in the total caloric value of the diet, calculated using the 24hR, was directly and significantly associated with an increase in the ultra-processed food consumption score. There was substantial agreement between the ranges of the ultra-processed food consumption score obtained by the screener and the approximate fifths of the share of ultra-processed foods in the diet calculated by the 24hR (Pabak index = 0.65).
Conclusions:
The ultra-processed food consumption score, obtained from an ultra-processed food consumption screener, a practical and agile instrument, is capable of reflecting the participation of ultra-processed foods in children's diets, with regard to the 2015 Pelotas Birth Cohort.
