(P15-021-24) Spending on Ultra-Processed Foods and Beverages Is Associated With Waist Circumference in Mexican Children

Objectives: To explore the longitudinal association between spending on ultra-processed foods and beverages (UPF) and changes in waist circumference in Mexican children.

Methods: We analyzed the Mexican Family Life Survey (MxFLS), a longitudinal, probabilistic, and representative survey of the Mexican population in 2002, which reports household spending on the main food and beverage groups, as well as anthropometric indicators and sociodemographic characteristics of children aged 5 to 10 years in 2002 (n=2,677). There were additional follow-ups in 2005-2006 and 2009-2012. We estimated random effects models and generalized estimating equation models for longitudinal data, which correct for correlations between repeated measures and through losses to follow-up. We focused on the interaction term between tertiles of UPF spending on baseline and survey rounds.

Results: UPF spending is 12 times higher on average in the upper tertile compared to the lowest tertile in 2002, but the gaps narrowed in rounds 2 and 3 of the MxFLS. Household membership in the middle and high tertiles of UPF spending on the baseline is associated with an increase in waist circumference, mainly in round 2, compared with low tertile of UPF spending. The middle and upper tertiles of UPF expenditure are associated with 4.4 and 3.9 centimeters more waist circumference than the low tertile in round 2, respectively (p < 0.01).

Conclusions: The results suggest that higher UPF spending in households with children aged 5-10 years is a driver of abdominal obesity in the short and medium term, underscoring the need for comprehensive policies to limit UPF purchase and consumption from early ages to prevent the development of obesity.

Funding Sources: This research received financial support from the Research Institute for Equitable Development (EQUIDE for its Spanish acronym) at Universidad Iberoamericana, within the framework of its Call for Research Project Funding 2022 and its Call to Support the Dissemination of Results 2023.