Table 1.
Characteristics of the study population (n = 286)a.
| All (n = 286) | T1 of UPF (n = 95)b | T2 of UPF (n = 95) | T3 of UPF (n = 96) | P-value (T3 vs T1) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sex (% women/men) | 53/47 | 75/25 | 56/44 | 30/70 | P < 0.0001 |
| Education (% 9y/10–12y/university) | 5/46/49 | 2/42/56 | 7/46/46 | 6/49/45 | P = 0.13** |
| Physical activity (% sedentary/light/moderate/high) | 13/24/32/31 | 9/14/35/42 | 13/27/31/30 | 17/31/31/21 | P = 0.001 |
| Current smoking (%) | 7.7 | 8 | 8 | 6 | P = 0.56 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 25.8 (23.4–28.6) | 25.4 (22.4–28.6) | 26.0 (23.8–28.5) | 26.0 (24.0–29.6) | P = 0.09* |
| Liver fat (%) | 2.1 (1.1–5.1) | 1.5 (0.9–3.1) | 2.3 (1.1–5.5) | 2.4 (1.3–6.1) | P = 0.01 |
| NAFLD prevalence (n/%) | 66/23 | 18/19 | 23/24 | 25/26 | P = 0.24 |
| VAT (L) | 3.2 (1.7–4.5) | 2.0 (1.2–3.6) | 3.5 (1.8–5.0) | 3.7 (2.3–5.4) | P < 0.0001* |
| Pancreas fat (%) | 4.3 (2.4–7.2) | 3.0 (2.0–6.0) | 4.3 (2.6–7.2) | 5.1 (2.9–8.1) | P = 0.007 |
| SAT (L) | 6.3 (4.5–8.4) | 5.9 (3.9–8.7) | 6.4 (5.2–8.4) | 5.8 (4.2–8.3) | P = 0.97 |
| VAT/SAT | 0.4 (0.3–0.7) | 0.3 (0.2–0.5) | 0.4 (0.3–0.8) | 0.6 (0.4–0.9) | P < 0.0001 |
| Total fat mass (%) | 28.4 ± 8.7 | 30.3 ± 8.9 | 29.0 ± 8.0 | 25.9 ± 8.7 | P = 0.0006 |
| Fasting plasma glucose (mmol/L) | 5.0 (4.7–5.3) | 5.0 (4.8–5.3) | 4.9 (4.7–5.3) | 5.0 (4.6–5.4) | P = 0.63* |
| Fasting serum insulin (mU/L) | 3.6 (2.4–5.9) | 2.9 (1.9–5) | 4.2 (2.8–6) | 3.9 (2.9–6.6) | P = 0.001* |
| HOMA-IR | 0.8 (0.5–1.3) | 0.6 (0.4–1.1) | 0.9 (0.6–1.3) | 0.9 (0.6–1.5) | P = 0.007 |
| Total cholesterol (mmol/L) | 5.3 ± 1.0 | 5.4 ± 1.0 | 5.2 ± 1.0 | 5.2 ± 0.8 | P = 0.21 |
| LDL-cholesterol (mmol/L) | 3.4 ± 0.9 | 3.4 ± 0.9 | 3.3 ± 0.9 | 3.4 ± 0.8 | P = 0.96 |
| HDL-cholesterol (mmol/L) | 1.4 (1.2–1.6) | 1.5 (1.3–1.7) | 1.4 (1.1–1.5) | 1.3 (1.1–1.5) | P < 0.0001 |
| TG (mmol/L) | 1.0 (0.7–1.4) | 0.8 (0.7–1.3) | 1.0 (0.8–1.6) | 1.1 (0.8–1.4) | P = 0.02 |
| NOVA group 1 (%E) | 43.7 ± 10.6 | 52.6 ± 9.8 | 43.7 ± 6.7 | 34.8 ± 6.4 | P < 0.0001 |
| NOVA group 2 (%E) | 0.0 (0.0–0.4) | 0.0 (0.0–0.3) | 0.0 (0.0–0.6) | 0.0 (0.0–0.2) | P = 0.75 |
| NOVA group 3.1 (%E) | 18.1 ± 7.4 | 20.4 ± 8.9 | 18.1 ± 6.6 | 15.8 ± 5.6 | P = 0.0004* |
| NOVA group 3.2 (%E) | 37.8 ± 10.2 | 26.6 ± 5.0 | 37.6 ± 2.6 | 49.0 ± 5.4 | P < 0.0001 |
Data are presented as mean ± SD, %, counts or as median (IQR) for skewed distributed variables.
Tertile 1 indicates the lowest proportion of UPF-intake while tertile 3 indicates the highest proportion of UPF-intake.
BMI, Body Mass Index; HDL, High-Density Lipoprotein; HOMA-IR, Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance; LDL, Low-Density Lipoprotein; NAFLD, Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; T, Tertile; TG, Triglycerides; UPF, Ultra-processed food; VAT, Visceral Adipose Tissue; NOVA group 1, unprocessed or minimally processed foods; NOVA group 2, processed culinary ingredients; NOVA group 3.1, processed foods; NOVA group 3.2, ultra-processed foods.
Analyzed non-parametrically using the Mann-Whitney U-test.
9y + 10–12y categories were combined to satisfy the assumption of the chi-squared test (at least 80% of the expected frequencies are greater than or equal to 5).