The Results of Ultra-Processed Food Consumption on Weight Change: A Randomized Controlled Community Trial in a Health Promotion Program
Abstract
Objective: Our objective was to evaluate the association between ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption and body weight change after participating in nutritional intervention.
Design: Our study was a 12-month follow-up of participants in a randomized controlled community trial.
Setting: Brazilian Primary Health Care.
Participants: The participants were health promotion services users. Users in the control group (CG) performed the service's usual intervention, while those in the intervention group (IG) additionally participated for seven months in nutritional intervention. Socioeconomic data, self-health, perception of time spent in health promotion services, and weight loss attempts were investigated. Food consumption was obtained by 24 h food recall and categorizing these in quartiles according to the Nova system of food classification. Weight was measured and changes in the 12-month period were calculated by subtracting the weight at follow-up from the baseline measurement.
Results: Of the participants, 88.1% were females aged 56.7 ± 11.8 with 19.7 ± 15.3 months of participation in the service. In the fourth quartile (highest UPF consumption), the % contribution of calories per consumption of UPFs was 47.7%, with no differences between the IG and CG (p = 0.406). Adjusted after 12 months, when comparing those with lower consumption of UPFs (first quartile), individuals from the second, third, and fourth quartiles had positive weight variation. Respectively, these variations…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Understanding the factors influencing fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) damage in African smallholder maize fields and quantifying its impact on yield. A case study in Eastern Zimbabwe
- Alarming situation of emerging H5 and H7 avian influenza and effective control strategies
- Livestock and food security: vulnerability to population growth and climate change
- Atmosphere–ocean oxygen and productivity dynamics during early animal radiations
- Characterization of the global distribution and diversified plasmid reservoirs of the colistin resistance gene mcr-9
- The global seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in pigs: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.