{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,15]],"date-time":"2026-09-15T05:02:33Z","timestamp":1789448553741,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,13]],"date-time":"2026-09-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789257600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100008370","name":"National Pork Board","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100008370","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/00safct20","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000062","name":"National Institutes of Health","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["R01DK126710"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01DK126710"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000062","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["R01DK126710"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["R01DK126710"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01cwqze88","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100032591","name":"National Dairy Council","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100032591","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03559jp51","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100006628","name":"Mead Johnson Nutrition","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100006628","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/05p4pn188","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"NIH\/NCATS Colorado CTSA","award":["UM1 TR004399"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UM1 TR004399"]}]},{"award":["UM1 TR004399"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["UM1 TR004399"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/03xsh7c04","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption has been connected to adverse outcomes in children and adults, but research in infants is limited. This study assesses the relationship between UPF, dietary intake, and infant growth during complementary feeding. Methods: We analyzed infant UPF intake from 3-day diet records at ages 5, 9, and 12 months (n = 114). Two coders independently classified foods from diet records using the Nova classification system. Linear mixed-effects models were used to model dietary intake and growth outcomes. A Bonferroni-corrected p-value of 0.006 (9 tests) was used for multiple testing. Results: UPF intake significantly increased from 9 to 12 months (9 (7, 13)vs. 20 kcal\/kg\/d (17, 23), p &lt; 0.0001), accounting for 30% of total energy at 9 months and 38% at 12 months. UPFs were associated with both added sugar at 9 (\u03b2 = 0.27 [0.19, 0.36], p &lt; 0.0001) and 12 months (\u03b2 = 0.25 [0.2, 0.3], p &lt; 0.0001), and sodium at 9 (\u03b2 = 16.08 [10.87, 21.29], p &lt; 0.0001) and 12 months (\u03b2 = 12.39 [8.15, 16.64], p &lt; 0.0001). Intake of minimally processed foods (Nova 1) was associated with lower added sugar intake (\u03b2 = \u22120.22 [\u22120.27, \u22120.18], p &lt; 0.0001). Conclusions: In this cohort of U.S. infants, UPFs had lower nutrient density and higher energy density, with foods such as savory snacks and bars frequently contributing to dietary sodium and added sugar. These findings may suggest that limiting UPFs, especially toddler-specific products, and emphasizing minimally processed foods during complementary feeding could improve adherence to dietary guidance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu18182992","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]],"date-time":"2026-09-14T09:34:01Z","timestamp":1789378441000},"page":"2992","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Ultra-Processed Food Intake Is Associated with High Consumption of Added Sugar and Sodium in U.S. Infants"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-7923-4451","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kinzie L.","family":"Matzeller","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA"},{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Section of Nutrition, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mikayla L.","family":"Hernandez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Section of Nutrition, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nathan W. C.","family":"Campbell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9151-9745","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Edward L.","family":"Melanson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6669-228X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daniel N.","family":"Frank","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Audrey E.","family":"Hendricks","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biomedical Informatics, Section of Nutrition, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nancy F.","family":"Krebs","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Section of Nutrition, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-7645-8069","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Minghua","family":"Tang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80521, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2413","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tjnut.2023.06.020","article-title":"Food Processing, According to the Nova Classification System, and Dietary Intake of US Infants and Toddlers","volume":"153","author":"Wang","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. 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