Association of intake of ultra-processed snacks and beverages with obesity status and change in BMI among college students

Objective: To associate intake of ultra-processed/sweetened versus minimally processed/unsweetened beverages and snacks with body mass index (BMI) and BMI change after 12 wk among college students. Participants: 140 college student (18-24 years) participants of the Snackability trial. Methods: Participants were asked to complete three 24-h dietary recalls to record intake of snacks/beverages at baseline and recorded their weight and height at baseline and 12 wk later. ANCOVA was used for the cross-sectional associations and linear regressions for the longitudinal associations, adjusting for age, sex, energy intake of the other meals, and randomized group (longitudinal only). Results: In the cross-sectional analysis we found that college students with obesity consumed significantly more overall ultra-processed snacks than those without obesity. For the longitudinal analysis, 87 participants submitted the weight and height after 12 wk, and we found that any intake of ultra-processed snacks was associated with an increase in BMI after 12 wk (β = 0.280, p < 0.05). Conclusions: Those with obesity had higher intake of ultra-processed beverages and snacks compared to those without obesity. Also, any intake of ultra-processed snacks was associated with an increase in BMI over time.