Maternal Intake of Ultraprocessed Foods Is Associated with Excess Risk for Pediatric Obesity

More than half of calories in the U.S. diet come from ultraprocessed foods (i.e., ready-to-consume formulations containing little or no whole foods). These foods — which typically have low nutritional quality and often contain additives, processing byproducts, and other nonnutritive components — have been associated with a variety of adverse health effects (NEJM JW Gen Med Nov 1 2022 and BMJ 2022; 378:e070688, e068921). Healthful maternal diets during pregnancy and child rearing have been associated with lower risk for childhood obesity. Might maternal intake of ultraprocessed foods specifically influence risk for pediatric obesity?

From longitudinal health studies of U.S. nurses and their children, researchers identified 20,000 children bor…