Ultra-Processed Foods Addiction High Among Gen X Members: Study

More than one out of five Gen X women currently meet the criteria for ultra-processed foods addiction, which has been linked to long-term risks of chronic diseases.

A new study suggests ultra-processed food (UPF) addiction is widespread among older adults, particularly Generation X, who were the first to grow up during the rise of these products in the 1970s and 1980s.

Ultra-processed foods include many popular snacks, meals and drinks made with additives like sugar, unhealthy fats and salt. These ingredients are often used to enhance flavor, extend shelf life, or improve texture, but provide little to no nutritional value.

As the popularity of these common household food products has increased drastically over the last several decades, research has begun to show that ultra-processed foods carry long-term health risks, including non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and type 2 diabetes, particularly among children. 

Critics claim that manufacturers not only knew about the addictive and harmful effects of ultra-processed foods, but also intensified their marketing to teens and young adults in an effort to cultivate lifelong consumers.

In response, a number of processed foods lawsuits are now being investigated by attorneys across the U.S. for individuals who began consuming these products as a child, and later developed side effects.

Adding to these concerns, new findings published late last month in the medical journal Addiction indicate that the rate of addiction to ultra-processed foods is significantly higher among Gen X adults, now in their 50s and early 60s, compared to those born just one or two decades earlier.

Scientists from the University of Michigan used the National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA) to conduct a cross-sectional survey examining the prevalence of ultra-processed food addiction and its association with perceptions of physical and mental health and social isolation.

Led by Lucy Loch, the research team analyzed a sample of 2,038 older adults between 50 and 80 years old and found that among those in their 50s and 60s, 21% of women and 10% of men met the criteria for addiction, while among those aged 65 to 80, 12% of women and 4% of men did. Overall, one in five women aged 50 to 64 met the criteria for addiction.

Among women aged 50 to 80 who reported being overweight, they were more than 11 times as likely to meet the criteria for UPF addiction. Overweight men in the same age group were 19 times more likely.

Among individuals reporting fair to poor mental health, women were nearly three times more likely, and men four times more likely, to meet the criteria for ultra-processed food addiction. Those in fair to poor physical health were also three times more likely to qualify, with women nearly twice as likely as those in better health.

Feelings of isolation were another strong indicator. Men and women who reported feeling isolated some or most of the time were more than three times as likely to meet the criteria for UPF addiction compared to those who did not.

“Children and adolescents today consume even higher proportions of calories from ultra-processed foods than today’s middle-aged adults did in their youth. If current trends continue, future generations may show even higher rates of ultra-processed food addiction later in life.”

—  Ashley Gearhardt, Ultra-processed food addiction in a nationally representative sample of older adults in the USA

Overall, the study supports that UPF addiction is associated with poorer physical health, mental health and social well-being.

Processed Foods Lawsuits

In December 2024, one of the first UPF lawsuits was filed by Bryce Martinez against the food industry, alleging that products sold by major brands like Kraft Heinz, Coca-Cola and General Mills had been aggressively marketed to children and low-income communities for years. Martinez claimed that these tactics, coupled with zero health warnings, caused him to develop childhood diabetes and NAFLD.

However, a federal judge dismissed the Martinez lawsuit in August, ruling that the claims were overly broad and vague, lacking a clear legal basis or a specific link between the plaintiff’s injuries and any particular product, ingredient or brand. 

The decision is likely to affect how current and future plaintiffs pursue claims and structure lawsuits alleging that routine consumption of ultra-processed foods contributed to type 2 diabetes or NAFLD in themselves or their children.

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