Chilean preschoolers are highly exposed to food additives, with distinct consumption patterns linked to poorer diet quality and higher BMI, highlighting a need for monitoring and regulatory efforts to reduce unnecessary additive exposure during childhood.
Key Findings
Results
Chilean preschool children had high daily exposure to food additives on average.
Children consumed an average of 45.5 additives per day (including repeated exposures).
Children were exposed to an average of 24.7 different additives per day.
Sample consisted of 941 children aged 4-6 years from the Food and Environment Chilean Cohort (2016).
Food additives were identified by linking 24-h dietary recall items to ingredient lists of packaged products collected in the same year.
Results
Flavourings were the most widely consumed food additives among the preschoolers.
Flavourings were consumed by 99% of children.
Fruit and soft drinks were the primary sources of additives, accounting for 24.4% of total additives consumed.
Additives consumed by at least 10% of participants were included in the exploratory factor analysis.
Results
Five distinct food additive consumption patterns were identified in Chilean preschoolers.
Patterns were identified using exploratory factor analysis.
All five patterns were associated with at least one dietary indicator (total energy, sugars, saturated fats, protein, or fibre).
Two of the five patterns were associated with body mass index (BMI).
Associations were examined using linear regression.
Results
Food additive consumption patterns were associated with poorer dietary quality indicators.
Dietary indicators assessed included total energy, sugars, saturated fats, protein, and fibre intake.
UPF (ultra-processed food) caloric share was also used as a dietary indicator.
All five identified additive patterns were associated with at least one of these dietary indicators.
Associations were assessed via linear regression in a cross-sectional design.
Results
Two of the five food additive consumption patterns were associated with higher body mass index in preschool children.
BMI was used as the adiposity outcome measure.
Linear regression was used to examine the association between additive patterns and BMI.
Two out of five identified additive patterns showed statistically significant associations with BMI.
The study design was cross-sectional, limiting causal inference.
Zancheta C, Grilo M, Rebolledo N, Reyes M, Corvalan C. (2026). Exposure to Food Additives, Dietary Indicators, and Adiposity in Chilean Preschool Children.. Pediatric obesity. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.70098