Seventy-Five Percent of Total Energy Intake Comes From Ultra-Processed Foods Among a Sample of Veterans With Overweight and Obesity: An Exploratory Analysis of Three-Day Food Records.

BACKGROUND

About 55% of total energy intake (TEI) comes from ultra-processed foods (UPF) in the United States; however, UPF intake among veterans is unknown. The objective of this study was to quantify UPF consumption in a sample of US veterans.

METHODS

An analysis was conducted of 3-day food records from 79 veterans with overweight or obesity at the Phoenix Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System. Food items were categorized using the NOVA food classification system (minimally processed, culinary processed, processed, and UPF). The percentage of TEI for each group was analyzed using an analysis of variance (α = 0.05).

RESULTS

For the 79 veterans sampled, the mean (SD) TEI in 3-day food records was 75% (14%) from UPFs and 14% (12%) from minimally processed foods (P < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Most TEI of the veterans in this sample was derived from UPFs, which is higher than the US population as a whole. Given the positive relationship between UPFs and various chronic diseases, further efforts to promote diet improvements among veterans is warranted.