Acceso usuarios
Amelia A. Martí del Moral, Carmen Calvo, Ana Martínez
Cada vez son más numerosos los estudios que relacionan el consumo de alimentos ultraprocesados con la prevalencia de la obesidad. Esta clase de alimentos se caracteriza porque aportan gran cantidad de azúcares libres y grasas saturadas, lo que contribuye a aumentar la ingesta energética. En las últimas décadas, el consumo de estos alimentos está aumentado hasta el punto de convertirse en una importante fuente de energía diaria en algunas poblaciones. De esta manera, resultan desplazados alimentos ricos en fibra, hidratos de carbono complejos y grasas beneficiosas para la salud que pertenecen a patrones de alimentación saludables. Esta revisión sistemática se propone recopilar la información existente en la literatura sobre la relación entre alimentos ultraprocesados y obesidad. Sin embargo, hay que reconocer que existen limitaciones con respecto a la heterogeneidad de las metodologías empleadas en los diversos estudios o la utilización de distintos sistemas de clasificación de alimentos en función del grado de procesamiento, lo que dificulta el establecimiento, de manera definitiva, de una asociación entre el consumo de ultraprocesados y el desarrollo de obesidad.
Background and objectives: a number of studies suggest a relationship between the intake of ultra-processed foods and the prevalence of obesity. Specifically, this type of food provides large amounts of free sugars and saturated fats, which contribute to a high energy intake. In the last few decades, consumption of these products has increased to the point of representing an important amount of calories in the daily diet of several populations. As a result, foods that are usually consumed in healthy eating patterns containing fiber, complex carbohydrates and fats are displaced. This systematic review aimed to compile the information in the literature, and to examine the scientific evidence about the relationship between ultra-processed food and obesity. Material and methods: a systematic review was performed of the PubMed database. PRISMA criteria were applied to identify those papers published from 2000 to April 2020 that met the following criteria: original articles (in English or Spanish), dealing with research in human subjects, with exclusion of pregnant women. The search was performed using the terms “ultra-processed food and obesity” and “ultra-processed food and overweight”, which resulted in a total of 12 references: 7 cross-sectional studies, 3 prospective cohort studies, and 2 ecological studies.Results: a positive association was found between ultra-processed food consumption and obesity in 9 of the 12 papers included in the review. However, limitations exist regarding the heterogeneity of methodologies or use of different food classification systems according to processing degree.Conclusion: further studies are needed to establish the relationship between ultra-processed food consumption and the prevalence and inci-dence of obesity.
