{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,16]],"date-time":"2026-01-16T07:18:30Z","timestamp":1768547910321,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,15]],"date-time":"2026-01-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768435200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Research Plan of the University of Granada","award":["1"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["1"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Foods"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in adolescence is high due to their widespread availability and accessibility and has been linked to increased cardiometabolic risk. In the Autonomous City of Melilla, an environment with particular cultural and religious characteristics, it is relevant to analyze the relationship of UPFs with metabolic markers of type 2 diabetes mellitus. This is a cross-sectional pilot study on 31 Muslim adolescents aged 15 to 17 years. The NOVA food classification was used to identify UPFs. The final sample comprised Muslim adolescents because written consent for venous blood sampling was obtained only from Muslim families\/legal guardians. Separate multiple linear regression models adjusted for sex were fitted to examine the associations between UPF intake (%E\/day) and each cardiometabolic and inflammatory marker. Higher UPF intake was positively associated with BMI, body fat percentage, waist circumference, waist-to-height indicator (ICA), and fasting glucose after controlling for the false discovery rate (q &lt; 0.05). Regarding the inflammatory component, Muslim girls had elevated levels of IL-7, IL-10, and IL-13, and Muslim boys had higher levels of MIP-1\u03b2. In addition, IL-8 correlated positively with waist circumference, BMI, and the HDL\/LDL ratio, while MCP-1 was negatively associated with Apo A1, total cholesterol, and HDL. In this exploratory pilot study, higher intake of UPF appears to be associated with greater central adiposity and higher fasting glucose; these hypothesis-generating findings warrant confirmation in larger, representative samples and may inform culturally adapted nutritional screening in Melilla.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/foods15020319","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,15]],"date-time":"2026-01-15T11:13:21Z","timestamp":1768475601000},"page":"319","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Consumption of Ultra-Processed Foods and Biochemical Markers Predictive of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in a Self-Selected Pilot Sample of Muslim Adolescents in Melilla"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7334-7609","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Miriam","family":"Mohatar-Barba","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, Melilla Campus, University of Granada, 52005 Melilla, Spain"},{"name":"Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Biosanitaria (ibs.GRANADA), 18014 Granada, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0274-2441","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mar\u00eda","family":"L\u00f3pez-Olivares","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, Melilla Campus, University of Granada, 52005 Melilla, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5103-6028","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emilio","family":"Gonz\u00e1lez-Jim\u00e9nez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Instituto de Investigaci\u00f3n Biosanitaria (ibs.GRANADA), 18014 Granada, Spain"},{"name":"Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Granada, 18016 Granada, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2567-9916","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"A\u00edda","family":"Garc\u00eda-Gonz\u00e1lez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food and Health, Institute of Fat-CSIC, Pablo de Olavide University Campus, Building 46, 41013 Seville, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5919-993X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Javier S.","family":"Perona","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food and Health, Institute of Fat-CSIC, Pablo de Olavide University Campus, Building 46, 41013 Seville, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1535-5790","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carmen","family":"Enrique-Mir\u00f3n","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"HUM-613 Research Group, Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Health Sciences, Melilla Campus, University of Granada, C\/Santander s\/n, 52005 Melilla, Spain"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"309","DOI":"10.1017\/S136898002000350X","article-title":"Is the world converging to a \u2018Western diet\u2019?","volume":"24","author":"Azzam","year":"2021","journal-title":"Public Health Nutr."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e13366","DOI":"10.1111\/obr.13366","article-title":"The nutrition transition to a stage of high obesity and noncommunicable disease prevalence dominated by ultra-processed foods is not inevitable","volume":"23","author":"Popkin","year":"2022","journal-title":"Obes. 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