Intellectual obesity, junk information, and ultra-processed foods: a societal challenge!

Abstract In today's attention economy—where information is abundant but often unfiltered—we face the paradox of intellectual overconsumption. Just as excessive intake of poor-quality food leads to physical obesity, the constant influx of low-value or misleading information can result in “intellectual obesity,” where cognitive capacity is overwhelmed, and critical thinking is dulled. The consumption of low-quality information over time degrades societal capability to form rational judgements or partake in informed decision making. Junk information is shallow and appeals more to virality than depth, and in time undermines public discourse and ultimately challenges the societal trust in expertise. This can also make discussion issues like ultra-processed foods difficult, confusing, and leads to decisions stemming more from sensationalism then evidence-based sources. This viewpoint piece examines the symptoms and impact of junk information and offers strategies of how these can be mitigated, with each cross-sector of society playing its role. There is a call for critical thinking to be awoken, there is a plea to value depth rather than superficiality, content rather than sensationalism and veritas rather than fervidity.