British Medical JournalMaternal Consumption of Ultra-Processed Foods and Subsequent Risk of Offspring Overweight or Obesity: Results from Three Prospective Cohort Studies

Nearly 20,000 mother-child pairs were tracked over a median follow-up of 4 years. After adjusting for maternal risk factors and their children’s own ultra-processed food intake, physical activity, and sedentary time, maternal consumption of ultra-processed foods during the child-rearing period was associated with overweight or obesity in offspring with a 26% higher risk in the group with the highest maternal ultra-processed food consumption.