Kids who eat more ultra-processed foods show a troubling brain response — SkimNews
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- JAMA Network Open published a study of 46 children ages 7 to 10, all healthy weight at enrollment, combining MRI scans, dietary assessments and body-composition measurements to examine links between food-cue responses and later weight change.
- BrainChild study researchers found that children who ate more ultra-processed foods showed greater dorsal-striatum activity while viewing images of foods such as cookies and French fries, and stronger responses were associated with larger one-year increases in BMI and body-fat percentage.
- USC researchers reported that accounting for dorsal-striatum activity made the association between ultra-processed food intake and BMI 31% weaker and the association with body-fat percentage 44% weaker—a reduction they said suggests the reward response helps explain part of the relationship.
- United States children consume approximately 67% of their calories from ultra-processed foods.
- Kathleen A. Page said changing the food environment is important because ultra-processed products are inexpensive, widely available and easy to prepare, while the researchers cautioned that improving children's diets cannot depend entirely on individual families.
- BrainChild study researchers could not determine from the observational design whether ultra-processed food intake directly caused heightened brain activity or weight gain; they proposed an intervention providing minimally processed alternatives to examine changes in food-cue responses and weight gain.
Why it matters: For families and policymakers, the study offers a plausible mechanism for intervention trials and food-environment changes, not a settled explanation of childhood obesity. Its 46-child observational design, with every participant initially at a healthy weight, means the 31% and 44% reductions in association do not prove ultra-processed foods caused brain or weight changes.
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