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Abstract

Purpose
We quantified levels of ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption and investigated consumption patterns in a representative sample of UK adolescents.

Methods
We used data from 4-day food diaries from adolescents in the UK National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) (2008/09–2018/19). UPF were identified using the NOVA classification. We estimated the percentage of Total Energy Intake (%TEI) and the absolute weight (grams). Linear regression models quantified differences in UPF consumption across survey years and its association with participant’s individual characteristics. This was an analysis of the repeated cross-sectional data from the UK NDNS Rolling Programme waves 1–11 (2008/09–2018/19). A total of 2991 adolescents (11–18y) with complete information on dietary intake were included.

Results
Mean UPF consumption was 861 (SD 442) g/d and this accounted for 65.9% (SD 13.4%) of TEI. Between 2008 and 2019, mean UPF consumption decreased from 996 to 776 g/d [ – 211 (95%CI  – 302;  – 120)] and from 67.7% to 62.8% of TEI [ – 4.8% (95%CI  – 8.1;  – 1.5)]. Higher %TEI was consumed by adolescents with lower socioeconomic status; white ethnicity and living in England North. A higher weight of UPF consumption (g/d) was associated with being male, white, age 18y, having parents with routine or manual occupation, living in England North, and living with obesity.

Conclusion
Average energy intake from UPF has decreased over a decade in UK adolescents. We observed a social and regional patterning of UPF consumption, with higher consumption among adolescents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, from a white ethnicity and living in England North. Our findings suggest inequalities associated with UPF intake and factors that might lie beyond individual choice.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Publisher Keywords:	Ultra-processed food, Adolescents, National diet and nutrition survey, Food consumption
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Healthcare Services Research & Management
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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