The consumption of ultraprocessed foods is already reflected in the blood of Spanish children before they reach seven years old. A study involving 1,148 boys and girls aged 3 to 6 identified 19 metabolites linked to these products. And they are not scattered; they cluster into two distinct metabolic profiles.
One of these profiles, the fat-related one, is associated with higher cardiovascular risk. The other, interestingly, points in the opposite direction, although it too grows with ultraprocessed intake. The authors emphasize that we are not yet talking about disease, but about early signals.
Seven cities and one analysis
The children are part of the CORALS cohort, which will follow families from seven Spanish cities for ten years. The cities are Barcelona, Córdoba, Pamplona, Reus, Santiago de Compostela, Valencia and Zaragoza. They joined the study between 2019 and 2022, recruited through schools and health centers.
They had an average age of about five, with a little more than half being girls. To determine what they ate, trained dietitians gave families a 125-item food questionnaire. Afterwards, each product was classified using the NOVA system, which separates fresh from industrial.
Additionally, fasting blood samples were drawn from each child. With nuclear magnetic resonance, the team measured 249 metabolites, small molecules the body uses to convert food into energy. It is essentially a snapshot of metabolism at a given moment.
The fat profile
Of those 249 molecules, 19 were associated with the amount of ultraprocessed foods consumed by each child. The first group, dominated by fats, went hand in hand with higher triglycerides, higher fasting insulin and higher fasting glucose. It also correlated with lower HDL cholesterol, the one we commonly call the “good” cholesterol.
That profile was also linked to a higher cardiovascular risk score. The score sums body fat, cholesterol, triglycerides, blood pressure and insulin resistance. At ages 4 or 5, one would not expect to see such a pattern on a blood test.
It is worth recalling which products we are talking about. Ultraprocessed foods are manufactured in industry from substances extracted from foods and additives, with very little fresh food. Many contain substantial refined sugar and unhealthy fats, and sometimes less high-quality protein.
A second profile in reverse
The second profile, focused on amino acids, behaved almost like a mirror image of the first. It went with less body fat, fewer triglycerides and less insulin, and with more HDL cholesterol. But, according to the scientific article, both profiles rise at the same time as the consumption of these products increases.
Do ultraprocessed foods then have a good face? The researchers urge not to read it that way. They believe that this pattern could reflect the body’s adjustments to compensate at such early ages, something that will require further study.
What seems solid is the contrast between the two profiles. The team repeated the calculations with other ways of measuring pediatric cardiovascular risk, used in large European studies, and the direction of the results remained. It also did not change when separating boys and girls.
9.2% more precision
The team aimed to see whether these profiles said more than weight, blood pressure or cholesterol. Used together, the model improved its ability to detect children with the worst cardiovascular profile by 9.2%. That is not a small advance.
“What’s relevant is that we can detect metabolic differences associated with diet in children as young as three to six years old,” explains Nancy Babio, the lead investigator of CORALS. For her these are “early metabolic signals,” not disease.
Between 196 and 606 grams daily
The amounts these children eat are not small by any measure. The lowest quartile of ultraprocessed intake hovered around 196 grams per day, while the highest reached about 606. This aligns with ultraprocessed consumption in Spain, which now approaches 32% of dietary energy.
Researcher Jordi Salas-Salvadó, from the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, brings it home to the kitchen. “Encouraging the consumption of fresh or minimally processed foods can contribute to a healthier diet,” he notes.
A still photo, not a movie
The study’s first author, the predoctoral researcher Josué Pérez Acosta, warns that these data do not allow directly blaming ultraprocessed foods. Everything was measured at a single moment, so there is a relationship, but causation is not proven. That is why CORALS’ follow-up in the coming years will be crucial.
The paper acknowledges other weaknesses, such as the flaws of any dietary questionnaire. Still, “childhood is a key stage for establishing eating habits,” reminds Salas-Salvadó. It aligns with the standards that already remove ultraprocessed foods from school breakfasts and children’s menus.
The study, supported by CIBEROBN and the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, has been published in the journal eBioMedicine and the university explains it in its official press release.
Foto: Universitat Rovira i Virgili
