Association of Ultra‐Processed Food Intake with Cardiovascular and Respiratory Disease Multimorbidity: A Prospective Cohort Study

Scope Evidence suggests a positive association between ultra‐processed food (UPF) consumption and the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The study aims to investigate associations between UPF intake and respiratory disease, CVD, and their multimorbidity in a large prospective cohort. Methods and results Within the UK Biobank, participants who are free from respiratory disease or CVD at baseline and completed at least two times 24‐h dietary records are included in this study. After adjusting for socioeconomic status and lifestyle factors, the hazard ratios (95% confidence interval) for each 10% increase in UPF are 1.06 (1.04, 1.09) for CVD, 1.04 (1.02, 1.06) for respiratory disease, 1.15 (1.08, 1.22) for CVD mortality, and 1.06 (1.01, 1.12) for their multimorbidity, respectively. In addition, replacing 20% of UPF weight in diet with an equivalent proportion of unprocessed or minimally processed foods is estimated to be associated with 11% lower risk of CVD, 7% lower risk of respiratory disease, 25% lower risk of CVD mortality, and 11% lower risk of CVD and respiratory disease multimorbidity. Conclusion In this prospective cohort study, higher consumption of UPF is associated with higher risks of CVD and respiratory disease multimorbidity. Further longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these findings.