{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,21]],"date-time":"2026-08-21T05:23:19Z","timestamp":1787289799296,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,21]],"date-time":"2026-08-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787270400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Nutr."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have become deeply embedded in contemporary dietary patterns, particularly among urban working populations. Concurrently, perceived stress especially in high-demand occupations such as teaching has emerged as a significant public health concern. Understanding the relationship between UPF consumption and perceived stress is essential for designing targeted nutritional and mental health interventions.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study investigated the association between ultra-processed food consumption and perceived stress levels among teaching professionals, with specific attention to gender-related differences in dietary behavior and stress experience.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted among 549 teaching professionals from educational institutions across urban India. UPF consumption was quantified using a validated 20-item binary-scored instrument aligned with the NOVA classification system. Participants were stratified into Low ( \u2264 8 items;\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 149), Moderate (9\u201312 items;\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 241), and High (\u226513 items;\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 159) UPF consumption groups. Perceived stress was assessed using the validated 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10). Analytical methods included Welch-corrected independent samples\n                      <jats:italic>t<\/jats:italic>\n                      -tests, Pearson and Spearman correlation analyses, simple and multivariable linear regression.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Mean PSS-10 scores increased progressively across Low (2.77 \u00b1 0.54), Moderate (3.01 \u00b1 0.36), and High (2.97 \u00b1 0.32) UPF consumption groups. Welch-corrected\n                      <jats:italic>t<\/jats:italic>\n                      -test demonstrated significantly higher perceived stress in the High versus Low group [t\n                      <jats:sub>(236.67)<\/jats:sub>\n                      = \u22123.95,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt; 0.001; Cohen's\n                      <jats:italic>d<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.70). Pearson correlation revealed a significant positive association (\n                      <jats:italic>r<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.210,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt; 0.001; R\n                      <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                      = 0.044), confirmed by Spearman's \u03c1 = 0.178 (\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      &amp;lt; 0.001). Multivariable regression showed UPF consumption remained significantly associated with perceived stress after adjustment for age, gender, and BMI (\u03b2 = 0.175,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.003). Female teachers reported significantly higher perceived stress than males across all UPF strata (\u03b2 = 1.42 PSS points,\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                      = 0.020).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Higher UPF consumption was significantly but modestly associated with elevated perceived stress among teaching professionals. The observed association is consistent with mechanistic pathways described in prior experimental literature, including gut-brain axis disruption and neuroendocrine dysregulation; however, these mechanisms were not empirically tested in the present study. Female educators demonstrated disproportionately higher stress burden. Findings support incorporating dietary behavior as a modifiable target within occupational wellness strategies for educators. Longitudinal, biomarker-inclusive, and gender-stratified research is warranted to establish directionality, test inflammatory and gut-brain mechanisms, and develop evidence-based occupational wellness interventions.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnut.2026.1889456","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,21]],"date-time":"2026-08-21T04:23:11Z","timestamp":1787286191000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Association between ultra-processed food consumption and perceived stress among teaching professionals: a gender-stratified cross-sectional study from Urban India"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Anindita","family":"Ghosh","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Symbiosis Skills and Professional University","place":["Pune, Maharashtra, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Arti","family":"Muley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Symbiosis School of Culinary Arts and Nutritional Sciences Symbiosis International (Deemed University)","place":["Pune, Maharashtra, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Reena","family":"Verma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Symbiosis Skills and Professional University","place":["Pune, Maharashtra, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ashutosh","family":"Zunjur","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Ports and Logistics and School of Interdisciplinary Science, Symbiosis Skills and Professional University","place":["Pune, Maharashtra, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Saylee","family":"Borse","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Symbiosis Skills and Professional University","place":["Pune, Maharashtra, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Subhamitra","family":"Adhikari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Ports and Logistics and School of Interdisciplinary Science, Symbiosis Skills and Professional University","place":["Pune, Maharashtra, India"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","first-page":"31","article-title":"Perceived stress in a probability sample of the United States","volume-title":"The Social Psychology of 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