Ultraprocessed foods suppose most of the diet of adults and minors in the United States, according to a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The study, conducted between 2021 and 2023, reveals that, on average, the ultra -processed represent 55 % of the calories ingested by the Americans of all ages, but the proportion is higher in the diet of children under 19, up to 61.9 %.
By age groups, children from 6 to 11 years of age are the ones who obtain the most calorie from the ultra -processed (64.8 %), followed by adolescents from 12 to 18 (63 %) and infants from 1 to 5 (56.1 %), while among adults, the average consumption is 53 %and is reduced with age.
The main ultraprocesses consumed by Americans are headed by the sandwich (which includes hamburger) and sweet pastry, followed by the salty snacks, pizza and sweetened soft drinks, indicates the document.
The study also highlights that the level of income does not make great differences in the consumption of these products, especially among young people, while adults with the highest family income consume less, but still represent more than 50 % of the total calories.
The CDC pointed out that in the last decade, Americans have obtained most of their calories in these products, but in some periods consumption has been reduced: in adults, from 2013 to 2023, and in young people, in the biennium prior to the study.
The Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose motto is “to make the US healthy again”, has included among its priorities the reduction of ultra -processed food consumption for its harmful effects on health, for which they face a potential definition at the federal level.
The most used classification (Nova) describes these products as industrially processed foods that contain unnatural additives, such as dyes or emulgent, and that are usually dense in energy, low in fiber and do not contain comprehensive ingredients.
