Higher ultra-processed food intake was linked to diabetes in Korean cohorts
Korean cohorts and a wider research synthesis linked higher intake with diabetes, without establishing cause and effect.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
People in the highest intake group had a higher hazard of developing type 2 diabetes than those in the lowest group. The association persisted in analyses adjusting for body mass index or dietary factors. This supports an association, but does not establish that changing food processing alone would change someone's diabetes risk.
This abstract-based account covers observational evidence using questionnaire measures of diet. Statistical adjustment cannot establish causation. The abstract reports no absolute diabetes rates, so it cannot show an individual's probability of developing the condition.
What researchers found
Type 2 diabetes during follow-up
Highest versus lowest intake quarter over up to 18 years: an estimated 1.11 times the rate of new diabetes diagnoses at a given time. The confidence interval expresses uncertainty in this relative hazard, not an absolute risk change.
What intake meant
Foods were classified using the Nova system, with intake expressed as a share of daily intake by weight. This differs from counting servings or calories, so the comparison stays tied to that intake measure.
Broader evidence
The accompanying meta-analysis also reported a graded association between higher ultra-processed food intake and diabetes. That consistency extends the observational picture across populations, while leaving the causal explanation unresolved.
The original publication
Ultra-processed food intake and risk of type 2 diabetes: a pooled analysis of three prospective cohorts of Korean adults and an updated meta-analysis.
Kim Y, Cho Y, Koo B et al.
Eur J Epidemiol · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40956553
- Record checked
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