A Children’s Hospital Los Angeles study found that greater consumption of ultra-processed foods during early childhood was associated with smaller volumes in brain regions involved in emotion, reward and motivation by age 6, although researchers emphasized that the observational findings do not prove the foods caused the differences.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Children who consumed greater amounts of ultra-processed foods during their first six years of life showed measurable differences in brain structure by age 6, according to a new study that adds to growing research examining how heavily processed diets may affect development.
Researchers at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles found that every 10-percentage-point increase in the proportion of daily calories coming from ultra-processed foods was associated with an almost 2% reduction in the volume of subcortical brain regions, including the amygdala and thalamus.
Those regions are involved in functions including emotion, motivation and reward processing.
The findings were published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, and the research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.
The study followed 144 Latino children from infancy through age 6. Researchers assessed their consumption of ultra-processed foods when the children were 6 months, 12 months, 24 months and 72 months old, then used magnetic resonance imaging to examine their brains at age 6.
Because the research was observational, it can establish an association between diet and brain structure but cannot demonstrate that ultra-processed foods directly caused the changes.
Senior author Michael I. Goran, director of the Nutrition and Obesity Program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, said the structural findings were notable because the children did not simultaneously show measurable differences on cognitive testing.
“Even without differences in cognitive performance, we’re seeing measurable changes in brain structure,” Goran said in a press statement.
The children were evaluated for language ability, motor skills, memory, processing speed and attention, but researchers found no significant differences in those areas tied to ultra-processed food intake.
Goran said the findings nevertheless raise questions about whether dietary patterns during periods of rapid brain development could have effects that become more apparent later.
He said what children eat early in life “may shape brain development in ways we’re just beginning to understand.”
Researchers reported that the association increased as the proportion of ultra-processed food in the diet rose. Based on the observed relationship, larger dietary shifts — such as replacing 30% or 40% of daily calories with ultra-processed products — would correspond with larger projected differences in subcortical brain volume.
The study did not establish that such reductions would necessarily result in later cognitive or behavioral problems.
Early childhood is considered an especially important developmental period because the brain undergoes rapid growth and has high neuroplasticity, or the ability to reorganize and form new neural connections.
That has led researchers to examine whether nutrient quality during infancy and childhood can influence neurological development in ways that may not be immediately visible through standard cognitive testing.
Ultra-processed foods are generally industrially manufactured products made largely from refined ingredients and additives and containing relatively little intact whole food.
Examples cited in the report include fast food, frozen prepared meals, baked goods and lunch meats.
Such products make up a substantial share of children’s diets in the United States. Children ages 1 through 5 now obtain more than half of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods, according to the report.
Separate research presented at NUTRITION 2026 also demonstrated how prevalent the products have become in foods marketed toward young children. An audit of 2,783 toddler food products sold at 21 grocery stores in Austin, Texas, classified 81% as ultra-processed.
Registered dietitian Lindsay Malone, a professor in the Department of Nutrition at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine who was not involved in the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles research, said the findings reinforce the importance of nutrition during childhood.
The research “continues to reinforce something we’ve known for a long time: nutrition plays an important role in children’s physical growth, brain development, learning, and overall health,” Malone told The Epoch Times.
Diana Cusa, a registered dietitian and certified diabetes care and education specialist at Northwell Health in New York who also was not involved in the study, emphasized the importance of nutrient-dense foods during childhood.
Among the nutrients important for developing brains are omega-3 fatty acids, iron, choline, B vitamins and antioxidants, she said.
Scientists have also examined several possible biological mechanisms through which poor diet could affect brain health, including inflammation, oxidative stress and insulin resistance.
Researchers cautioned that the new study does not yet establish which, if any, of those pathways explain the differences observed in the children’s brain scans.
Ultra-processed foods may create concerns not merely because they contain particular additives but also because diets heavily centered on them can displace foods that provide nutrients required during growth.
Previous researchers and health commentators have pointed to inadequate nutrient density, inflammation and metabolic effects as possible explanations for associations between heavily processed diets and poorer health outcomes.
Scientists have separately studied how overeating highly palatable foods may affect dopamine-driven reward systems in the brain.
The pediatric findings follow a wider body of research connecting high consumption of ultra-processed foods with adverse health outcomes in adults.
Published reviews have found associations between high intake and greater risks of chronic disease and premature mortality, while other studies have linked ultra-processed diets with reduced brain volume and cognitive decline among adults.
Previous reports have also associated heavier consumption with increased dementia risk and faster cognitive deterioration.
Other research has examined whether the degree of food processing itself may be associated with cancer risk independently of total calorie intake or obesity.
Those studies differ in design and cannot automatically be applied to young children, but they have contributed to increasing scientific scrutiny of how industrial food processing might affect health beyond conventional measurements such as calories, fat or sugar.
For families seeking to reduce ultra-processed foods, Malone and Cusa recommended practical changes rather than attempting to eliminate every processed product.
Among their suggestions were cooking more meals at home from whole ingredients, involving children in food preparation, preparing snacks ahead of time, examining ingredient lists and using water as the primary beverage.
They also recommended focusing grocery shopping on foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, quality protein sources and healthy fats.
Malone cautioned parents against viewing the issue in all-or-nothing terms.
“Most kids will eat ultra-processed foods sometimes. And that’s okay,” she said. “If the majority of meals include fruits, vegetables, quality protein, whole grains, and healthy fats, you’re building a strong nutritional foundation for your child’s development while leaving room for birthday cake, pizza night, and other favorite foods.”
Questions surrounding ultra-processed foods are also receiving growing attention from federal policymakers.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler have targeted the 67-year-old “Generally Recognized As Safe” regulatory designation, which allows some ingredients to enter the food supply without undergoing the same full review process applied to other substances.
The Children’s Hospital Los Angeles researchers said substantially more work will be required before the long-term meaning of their findings is understood.
“We still have much to learn about how early dietary exposures influence the developing brain,” Goran said. “Identifying the underlying mechanisms will be important for understanding what these findings mean for long-term health.”
The research team plans to examine which stages of childhood may be most sensitive to dietary exposure and investigate the biological processes that could explain the association between ultra-processed food consumption and the structural brain differences detected at age 6.
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