Home food preparation involvement and ultra-processed food consumption in adolescents: the EHDLA study

In this secondary cross-sectional analysis of 847 Spanish adolescents (aged 12–17 years) from the Eating Healthy and Daily Life Activities (EHDLA) study, we investigated whether frequency of helping with dinner preparation and grocery shopping (<3 or ≥3 times/week) were associated with ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption. Generalised linear models, adjusted for covariates, revealed that adolescents who helped prepare meals ≥3 times/week consumed significantly lower UPFs (B = −3.52 servings/week; 95% confidence interval (CI) −5.54 to −1.51, p = 0.001) compared to those helping less frequently. Grocery shopping frequency showed no significant association. Among specific UPF categories, only UPF beverage intake was significantly lower (B = −1.20 servings/week; 95% CI −2.17 to −0.24, p = 0.015); associations for sweets, fast food and other categories were not statistically significant. These findings suggest that regular involvement in home meal preparation, but not grocery shopping, is associated with lower UPF consumption among adolescents.

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Publication Details

Journal
International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition
Published
2026-09-06
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/09637486.2026.2724353
Primary Topic
Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Home food preparation involvement and ultra-processed food consumption in adolescents: the EHDLA study

Brendon Stubbs, Camila Miño, Damiano Pizzol, Jorge Olivares-Arancibia et al.
International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition
Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling
article

Home food preparation involvement and ultra-processed food consumption in adolescents: the EHDLA study

Brendon Stubbs, Camila Miño, Damiano Pizzol, Jorge Olivares-Arancibia, Fiorella Quiroz-Cárdenas, Miguel López-Moreno, Lucille Ridgell, Dong Keon Yon, Rodrigo Yáñez-Sepúlveda, José Francisco López-Gil, Masoud Rahmati, Lee Smith
article en

Abstract

In this secondary cross-sectional analysis of 847 Spanish adolescents (aged 12–17 years) from the Eating Healthy and Daily Life Activities (EHDLA) study, we investigated whether frequency of helping with dinner preparation and grocery shopping (<3 or ≥3 times/week) were associated with ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption. Generalised linear models, adjusted for covariates, revealed that adolescents who helped prepare meals ≥3 times/week consumed significantly lower UPFs (B = −3.52 servings/week; 95% confidence interval (CI) −5.54 to −1.51, p = 0.001) compared to those helping less frequently. Grocery shopping frequency showed no significant association. Among specific UPF categories, only UPF beverage intake was significantly lower (B = −1.20 servings/week; 95% CI −2.17 to −0.24, p = 0.015); associations for sweets, fast food and other categories were not statistically significant. These findings suggest that regular involvement in home meal preparation, but not grocery shopping, is associated with lower UPF consumption among adolescents.

International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition
Ceres (US), Eni (Italy) (IT), Cognizant (United States) (US), King's College London (GB), Universidad Francisco de Vitoria (ES), Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (GB), Universidad Autónoma de Chile (CL), Universidad Espíritu Santo (EC), Kyung Hee University (KR), Universidad Tecnológica del Sur (DO), Biruni University (TR), Universidad Andrés Bello (CL), Hungarian University of Sports Science (HU), Kyung Hee University Medical Center (KR), Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal Toulon-La Seyne-sur-Mer (FR), Universidad de Los Lagos (CL), Universidad Dr. Andrés Bello (SV), Universidad Internacional Para el Desarrollo Sostenible (NI), Anglia Ruskin University (GB), Medical University of Vienna (AT), Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin (DE), Hologic (Germany) (DE)
Zero hunger
Openalex Percentile: Top 8%
Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling
DOISourceOpenAlex
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