- A Spanish study found that children getting more than 30% of their daily energy from ultra-processed foods had a much higher risk of developing asthma.
- The association appeared to strengthen as the share of ultra-processed food in the diet increased.
- This was an observational study, so it cannot prove processed foods caused the asthma, but it adds to wider concerns about modern diets in childhood.
A new study suggests diets high in ultra-processed foods may be linked to a much higher risk of asthma in children.
Researchers followed 691 Spanish children who were aged four or five at the start of the study.
Parents reported the children’s diets using a detailed questionnaire, and the researchers classified foods using the NOVA system, which groups foods by processing rather than by nutrients alone.
The children were then followed for an average of 3.4 years.
During that time, higher intake of ultra-processed foods was associated with a sharply increased risk of asthma.
Children getting more than 30% of their daily energy from ultra-processed foods had nearly four times the risk of asthma compared with those with the lowest intake.
The researchers also found a dose-response pattern.
As the proportion of ultra-processed food rose, so did the apparent asthma risk.
Interestingly, the same pattern was not seen for other allergic conditions.
That suggests the effect may not be acting through classic allergy pathways.
Instead, the authors think ultra-processed foods may be contributing to a different type of inflammation that affects the airways.
This is still an observational study, so caution is needed.
Families whose children eat more ultra-processed food may differ in other ways too, even when researchers adjust for things like weight and screen time.
- Ultra-processed food intake linked to poorer thigh muscle quality
- Ultra-processed foods linked to lower fertility and slower early embryo development
- Ultra-processed foods in preschool years associated with behavioural difficulties
But the study fits a wider pattern.
Ultra-processed foods are increasingly being linked to poor health outcomes across multiple systems, and childhood is unlikely to be an exception.
The practical message is not complicated.
A child’s diet does not need to be perfect, but when packaged snacks, fizzy drinks and sweetened cereals start becoming a large share of daily calories, it may be doing more harm than just crowding out healthier food.
