ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health and Nutrition
This article is part of the Research TopicUltra-Processed Foods: Impacts on Diet Quality, Health, Consumer Behavior, and Food SystemsView all 11 articles
Ultra-processed foods intake and its association with diet quality and cardiovascular risk factors in adolescents from Antioquia-Colombia
Provisionally accepted
Laura Castrillón Ruiz
Alejandro Estrada Restrepo
Gustavo Cediel GiraldoDiana Liseth Cárdenas SánchezJacqueline Barona-Acevedo
Juan C. Aristizábal*- Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
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Objective: To analyze the relationship between ultra-processed foods (UPF) intake, diet quality and cardiovascular risk factors (CRFs) in adolescents from Antioquia-Colombia. Methodology: This study is a cross-sectional secondary analysis of adolescents participating in food and nutritional surveys in Antioquia. NOVA classification was used to identify UPF intake in 24-hour dietary recalls. UPF-intake contribution to dietary kilocalories, diet macronutrients and fiber was analyzed. CRFs included excess body weight, abdominal obesity, alterations in blood lipids and glucose. Statistical analysis included multiple linear regression models, multivariate binary logistic regression and odds ratio with 95% confidence intervals. Results: Analysis was performed for 402 adolescents (mean age 14.1±1.9 years). UPF intake accounted for 17.6±1.9% of total dietary kilocalories, with higher percentage in urban areas (19.0% vs 9.7%; p=0.002) and middle socioeconomic stratum (23.0% vs 16.6%; p=0.006). UPF consumption showed association with total kilocalories, total fat, saturated fat intake, and decreased fiber intake (p<0.001). Adolescents in the highest UPF intake quartile showed higher blood glucose (2.90mg/dl; p<0.05), though no significant associations were found with other CRFs. Conclusions: UPF intake was associated with diet quality deterioration and increased blood glucose concentration. High UPF intake among adolescents from urban and middle-class areas in Antioquia represents a potential health risk that deserves monitoring. Keywords: Adolescents, Ultra-processed foods, NOVA classification, Heart Disease Risk Factors.
Keywords: adolescents, Ultra-Processed foods, NOVA classification, Heart disease risk factors, Public Health
Received: 22 Sep 2025; Accepted: 17 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Castrillón Ruiz, Estrada Restrepo, Cediel Giraldo, Cárdenas Sánchez, Barona-Acevedo and Aristizábal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Juan C. Aristizábal, juan.aristizabal@udea.edu.co
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