Baric Angelina, Malik Vasanti S, Christoforou Anthea
Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University Ivor Wynne Centre, 1280 Main Street West, L8S 4L7, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, Medical Sciences Building, 1 King's College Circle, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A8, Canada.
Nutr Metab (Lond). 2025 May 7;22(1):37. doi: 10.1186/s12986-025-00935-y.
Ultra-processed food (UPF) contributes to nearly 50% of Canadians' diets. Research in other countries has begun to implicate high intakes of UPFs and negative health outcomes, including body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, and unfavourable lipid profiles. There have been no population level examinations of the relationship between UPF consumption and cardiometabolic risk in Canada.
Drawing on the Canadian Health Measures Survey (2016/17 and 2018/19), this study investigates the relationship between UPF consumption and cardiometabolic risk factors among Canadians (ages 19-79, n = 6517). Dietary data collected by Food Frequency Questionnaire was classified as UPF or not using the NOVA classification system which scores foods by degree of processing. Participants were grouped into quartiles based on the daily servings of UPF. Sociodemographic and lifestyle variables were collected via household questionnaire and cardiometabolic outcomes were measured during a clinic visit. Multivariable linear regression analyses separately assessed the association between cardiometabolic risk factors and UPF quartiles while adjusting for various sociodemographic and lifestyle variables. Sensitivity analyses additionally adjusted for fruit and vegetable intake (servings/day) to determine the effect of diet quality on this relationship. All analyses were weighted to ensure national representativeness.
UPF servings per day ranged from 1.2 in the lowest and 5.8 in the highest quartile. Compared to the lowest quartiles of UPF consumption, those in the highest were more likely to be male, in the lowest income quartile, Black or White, have lower household education, and higher physical activity and sedentary time. After adjustments, UPF consumption was positively associated with BMI, WC, diastolic BP, HBA1C, c-reactive protein, white blood cells (WBC), fasting triglycerides (TG), and fasting insulin. Fruit and vegetable intake attenuated the association for all outcomes, while BMI, WC, WBC, and TG remained significantly associated with increased UPF consumption.
This study is the first Canadian study looking at population level intakes of UPF across various cardiometabolic risk factors and adds to the growing body of literature demonstrating the detrimental health effects associated with UPF consumption.
超加工食品（UPF）占加拿大人饮食的近50%。其他国家的研究已开始表明，高摄入量的超加工食品与负面健康结果有关，包括体重指数、腰围、血压和不良血脂谱。加拿大尚未对超加工食品消费与心脏代谢风险之间的关系进行过人群层面的研究。
本研究利用加拿大健康措施调查（2016/17年和2018/19年），调查了加拿大人（19至79岁，n = 6517）中超加工食品消费与心脏代谢风险因素之间的关系。通过食物频率问卷收集的饮食数据使用NOVA分类系统分为超加工食品或非超加工食品，该系统根据加工程度对食物进行评分。参与者根据超加工食品的每日食用量分为四分位数组。通过家庭问卷收集社会人口统计学和生活方式变量，并在门诊就诊时测量心脏代谢结果。多变量线性回归分析分别评估心脏代谢风险因素与超加工食品四分位数之间的关联，同时调整各种社会人口统计学和生活方式变量。敏感性分析还调整了水果和蔬菜摄入量（每日份数），以确定饮食质量对这种关系的影响。所有分析都进行了加权，以确保具有全国代表性。
超加工食品的每日食用量在最低四分位数组为1.2份，在最高四分位数组为5.8份。与超加工食品消费最低的四分位数组相比，最高四分位数组的人群更可能为男性、处于最低收入四分位数、为黑人或白人、家庭受教育程度较低，且身体活动和久坐时间更长。调整后，超加工食品消费与体重指数、腰围、舒张压、糖化血红蛋白、C反应蛋白、白细胞（WBC）、空腹甘油三酯（TG）和空腹胰岛素呈正相关。水果和蔬菜摄入量减弱了所有结果的关联，而体重指数、腰围、白细胞和甘油三酯仍与超加工食品消费增加显著相关。
本研究是加拿大第一项针对各种心脏代谢风险因素的人群层面超加工食品摄入量的研究，并为越来越多证明超加工食品消费对健康有害影响的文献增添了内容。
