Adolescents eating less ultra-processed food during COVID-19 pandemic
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ATLANTA — Adolescents and young adults are eating less ultra-processed food since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic compared with before the pandemic, reversing a 30-year trend of increased ultra-processed food consumption.
In an interim analysis of the Processed Intake Evaluation (PIE) study of 452 adolescents and young adults presented at ENDO 2022, participants reported eating less ultra-processed food during the first 2 years of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 compared with prior to 2020. Ultra-processed food consumption dropped further in 2022 when COVID-19 restrictions eased.
“After the pandemic restrictions were introduced, average ultra-processed food consumption dropped by nearly 6%, continued to decline as COVID-19 restrictions later eased, and is now almost 14% below the level it was before the pandemic began,” Maria Balhara, a student at Broward College in Davie, Florida, told Healio. “It is noteworthy that the decline has been sustained and has continued even after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.”
The PIE study included 1,800 teens and young adults from around the U.S. The interim analysis focused on the first 452 participants in the study (53% girls; mean age, 16.6 years). Researchers calculated a composite processed intake evaluation (PIE) score from 0 to 100 for the consumption of processed foods; a score of 0 was defined as eating fewer processed foods and a score of 100 as eating more processed foods. PIE scores were compared for the time period before the pandemic prior to 2020, during COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021, and after pandemic restrictions were eased in 2022.
The mean PIE score was 56.2 before the pandemic. The score declined to 52.6 during the pandemic and to 48.1 in 2022.
Boys had a PIE score decline from 57.9 pre-pandemic to 55.5 during the pandemic and 49.1 in 2022. The mean PIE score for girls declined from 54.1 pre-pandemic to 50.6 during the pandemic and 47.4 in 2022.
“It was surprising to see that COVID-19-related changes have reversed the trend seen in ultra-processed food consumption in the last three decades,” Balhara told Healio. “As COVID-19 brought several unprecedented changes, including the closure of schools, social restrictions and the shift to working from home for many, this new study has found that such changes have led to an unexpected outcome. The study results were in sharp contrast to the speculative hypotheses in the early stages of the pandemic that lack of routine and structure in the day, as well as constant proximity to the fridge and kitchen, would lead to increased consumption of ultra-processed foods among adolescents.”
In an analysis of 23 behavior nutritional factors, having fewer processed foods at home and fewer opportunities to eat processed foods contributed the most to the decrease in processed food intake.
“This provides supportive evidence that for adolescents, peer influence outweighs other factors such as individual intention, nutrition knowledge, and parental behavior,” Balhara told Healio. “Programs should therefore include guidance on healthier eating choices while dining out with friends. The findings of this study suggest outreach programs may have success with peer-mediated interventions, where a teen trained in nutritional guidelines works with their peers to improve nutritional knowledge and target obesity risk-factors.”
Participants were divided into high-risk and low-risk groups based on the presence of obesity or diabetes in the participant or family. The low-risk group had a significantly greater decrease in PIE score of 8.8 points from pre-pandemic to 2022 compared with a 4.7-point decrease in the high-risk group (P < .01).
Balhara said the decrease in ultra-processed food consumption needs to be confirmed in the final analysis of the full PIE study cohort, but noted the early data are encouraging and may provide an opportunity for improved nutritional and behavioral interventions for adolescents.
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Balhara M. LBODP004. Presented at: ENDO Annual Meeting; June 11-14, 2022; Atlanta (hybrid meeting).
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