Home food preparation involvement and ultra-processed food consumption in adolescents: the EHDLA study

In this secondary cross-sectional analysis of 847 Spanish adolescents (aged 12-17 years) from the Eating Healthy and Daily Life Activities (EHDLA) study, we investigated whether frequency of helping with dinner preparation and grocery shopping (<3 or ≥3 times/week) were associated with ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption. Generalised linear models, adjusted for covariates, revealed that adolescents who helped prepare meals ≥3 times/week consumed significantly lower UPFs (B = -3.52 servings/week; 95% confidence interval (CI) -5.54 to -1.51, p = 0.001) compared to those helping less frequently. Grocery shopping frequency showed no significant association. Among specific UPF categories, only UPF beverage intake was significantly lower (B = -1.20 servings/week; 95% CI -2.17 to -0.24, p = 0.015); associations for sweets, fast food and other categories were not statistically significant. These findings suggest that regular involvement in home meal preparation, but not grocery shopping, is associated with lower UPF consumption among adolescents.