Overview
- A peer-reviewed ICMR‑NIN study published May 22 in Nutrients found that undergraduates with higher consumption of ultra‑processed foods had nearly three times the odds of elevated blood pressure compared with peers who ate fewer such foods.
- The cross-sectional analysis measured diet with a NOVA-based food frequency questionnaire and took standardized blood pressure readings from 311 college students aged 18–24 in Hyderabad.
- About 12.5% of participants already had blood pressure at or above 140/90 mmHg, with higher rates seen in males and students from wealthier households after adjustment for age, sex, residence and family income.
- Students reported taste, convenience, affordability and easy availability as the main drivers of eating biscuits, chocolates, packaged snacks, sugary drinks and instant foods on campus.
- ICMR‑NIN leaders and study authors urged targeted campus interventions and improved nutrition literacy while stressing that the cross-sectional design cannot prove cause and that long-term trials are needed to confirm effects and mechanisms.