Associations of Ultra‐Processed Foods and Executive Function in Children With Obesity and Their Parents: A Cross‐Sectional Study
Authors' conclusion
There were a few associations between UPFs intake and EF; however, most were nonsignificant.
Study context
- Population
- Parent-child dyads with obesity seeking treatment, University of California, San Diego; parent age 43 years (6.6), BMI 32 (6.4); child age 9.9 years (1.3), BMIz 2.0 (0.3); 31% Hispanic, 44% White, 25% other
- Participants
- 141 parent-child dyads
- Comparison
- Children vs Parents
- Primary endpoint
- Associations of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) intake with executive function (EF) (DSB, SST, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST))
Methodological detailscross-sectional, single-centre
- Cross-sectional
- Single-centre
Primary result
As reported in the abstract
UPFs-EF associations
Β (ultra-processed (UP) meat on digit span backward (DSB) scores)
−0.104
95% CI −0.197 to −0.013P = 0.013
Children · UP meat predicted lower DSB scores
Β (sweetened beverages on failed stop signal task (SST))
0.606
95% CI 0.018–1.210P = 0.044
Parents · sweetened beverages predicted failed SST
Further findings
| Outcome | Estimate | P value |
|---|---|---|
| Parent-child intake associationsParents vs Children | β (energy) 0.15 | P = 0.024 |
| Parent-child intake associationsParents vs Children | β (total UPFs) 0.20 | P = 0.018 |
| Parent-child intake associationsParents vs Children | β (savoury snacks) 0.28 | P = 0.018 |
| Parent-child intake associationsParents vs Children | β (UP meat) 0.60 | P < 0.001 |
| Parent-child intake associationsParents vs Children | β (sweetened beverages) 0.24 | P = 0.023 |
Original publication
Associations of Ultra‐Processed Foods and Executive Function in Children With Obesity and Their Parents: A Cross‐Sectional Study. Pediatr Obes. Published 16 August 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →