FIGURE 3.

A directed acyclic graph (DAG) depicting discussed potential direct and indirect pathways that may explain observed associations between ultra-processed food intake and increased risk for obesity and cardiometabolic disease within the United States. Created using DAGitty (v3.0, http://www.dagitty.net/). The directionality of the arrows depicts a potential relationship between variables discussed at the workshop, not necessarily consensus that a causal relationship exists or the strength of the available evidence. The yellow boxes represent exposure variables; the blue boxes represent outcomes variables or ancestors of outcome variables; and the pink boxes represent ancestor of exposure and outcome variables. The arrow in the “Ulta-Processed Food Intake” box represents the primary exposure, and the dashes in the “Cardiometabolic Health” and “Obesity” boxes represent primary outcomes.