A US study has shown that children who consume larger amounts of ultra-processed foods exhibit stronger brain responses in areas associated with reward and stimulation when viewing images of appetizing foods. This response was linked to an increase in body mass index and body fat percentage over the course of a year.
Study Details and Participation
The scientific website Medical Xpress reported in an article published the day before yesterday that the study, conducted by researchers from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California and published in the journal JAMA Network Open, included 46 children aged 7 to 10. It involved analyzing their dietary data and brain MRI scans, alongside monitoring changes in their body composition over a year.
Biological Findings
The results indicated that children who consumed larger quantities of these foods, including breakfast cereals, packaged bread, and instant soups, showed greater activity in the dorsal striatum of the brain, a region involved in processing reward, stimulation, and responses to food-related stimuli.
Follow-up data revealed that the strength of the brain response was associated with an increase in body mass index and body fat percentage after one year. Additionally, children who consumed higher amounts of ultra-processed foods recorded higher values for body mass index, waist circumference, and body fat percentage at the end of the study.
Role of the Brain and Environmental Factors
Researchers noted that accounting for differences in brain responses to appetizing foods reduced the strength of the relationship between ultra-processed food consumption and both body mass index and body fat percentage by 31 percent and 44 percent, respectively. This suggests that brain response may help explain part of this relationship.
Dr. Kathleen Page, a professor of medicine and pediatrics at the Keck School of Medicine and the lead researcher of the study, emphasized that childhood is a particularly critical period in this regard, as the brain is still developing and dietary habits and preferences are forming. This highlights the importance of focusing on healthy nutrition at an early age.
The study underscored the importance of improving the food environment and facilitating access to healthy, less processed foods at affordable prices as part of efforts to mitigate health risks associated with excessive consumption of ultra-processed foods.
Ultra-processed foods are defined as industrially manufactured products that often contain added ingredients such as flavors, colors, sweeteners, emulsifiers, and preservatives to enhance their taste, appearance, or shelf life.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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