THURSDAY, July 2, 2026 (HealthDay News) — More than half the calories consumed by young kids in the U.S. come from ultra-processed foods.
Now, a new study warns that those foods, including sugary cereals, packaged snacks, fast food and processed meats, may be linked to measurable differences in brain structure by age 6.
A team at Children's Hospital Los Angeles followed 144 Latino and Hispanic mother-child pairs from infancy through age 6, tracking kids' diets over time and using MRI scans to measure brain structure.
The result: For every 10% increase in ultra-processed food intake, brain volume was nearly 2% lower in regions involved in reward, emotion and motivation.
The study found no link between ultra-processed foods and cognitive performance.
But researchers say changes in brain structure may appear before changes in memory, thinking or behavior.
"Our findings suggest that what children eat early in life may shape brain development in ways we're just beginning to understand," said senior author Michael Goran, director of the Nutrition and Obesity Program at the hospital’s Saban Research Institute. "Even without differences in cognitive performance, we're seeing measurable changes in brain structure."
More work is needed to understand what these structural differences may mean for long-term health.
"We still have much to learn about how early dietary exposures influence the developing brain," Goran said.
The findings were recently published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
More information
Johns Hopkins University has more on ultra-processed foods.
SOURCE: HealthDay TV, July 2, 2026
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