What Should Kids Eat? Ultra-Processed Foods & Children’s Health

This back-to-school season, school nutrition is once again under scrutiny. Officials from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently pledged that the newest edition of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines will drive “major, dramatic changes in school food.” This effort is part of a larger, long-standing debate that centers on the role of “ultra-processed food” in the American diet.

Ultra-processed foods, which usually have more added sugars and carbohydrates and less protein, fiber, and vitamins than unprocessed or minimally processed foods, are linked to weight gain and related health problems. Studies suggest that up to 67 percent of what kids eat in the United States is ultra-processed.

As we await new federal guidance and potential changes to nutrition programs, this timely discussion will explore what is known – and unknown – about ultra-processed foods and their impact on children’s health. Expert guests will discuss the outcomes of scientific studies, identify opportunities for research, and discuss options for parents, caregivers, and policy makers to support optimal nutrition for American kids.

Agenda

3:00 pm | Welcome

3:05 | Discussion

Additional speakers to be announced

• Kevin Hall, author of Food Intelligence, and former Senior Investigator, National Institutes of Health
• Susan Mayne, former Director, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, U.S. Food and Drug Administration

3:50 | Audience

4:25 | Closing Remarks

4:30 | Adjourn

Health in the Headlines

This event is part of the National Academy of Medicine’s Health in the Headlines series, which investigates high-profile health and health policy topics making the news. Co-chaired by Alex Azar, former HHS Secretary, and Megan Ranney, Dean of the Yale School of Public Health, the series creates space for nuanced discussion and respectful debate among a diverse set of experts. Series guests are encouraged to distinguish clearly between empirical evidence and personal, cultural, or policy values that may shape their interpretation of the science.

Guest Bios

• Kevin Hall has made groundbreaking discoveries about how our environment shapes dietary behaviors, and how nutrition and physical activity affect human metabolism and body weight regulation. His transdisciplinary research has combined tightly controlled metabolic ward trials, advanced neuroimaging, and mathematical modeling to generate mechanistic insights into the drivers of obesity and diet-related chronic diseases. Dr. Hall has published more than 150 scientific articles and is a sought-after public speaker, having delivered more than 250 presentations around the globe. His work is regularly featured in major media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Economist, CNN, BBC, and network television. He has been featured in several podcasts and documentaries about food, nutrition, metabolism, and obesity. Dr. Hall consults for organizations and companies around the world providing his expertise in human nutrition, metabolism, and obesity science. He has received numerous scientific awards, including the Director’s Award from the US National Institutes of Health,  the E.V. McCullum Award from the American Society for Nutrition, the Lilly Scientific Achievement Award from The Obesity Society, and the Guyton Award for Excellence in Integrative Physiology from the American Physiological Society.
• Susan Mayne is Professor (adjunct) of Epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health, and prior to that was the Former Director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) at FDA, which is responsible for the safety and labeling of human foods covering approximately 80% of the U.S. food supply. CFSAN’s responsibilities also include fostering the development of healthier foods and ensuring that consumers have access to accurate and useful information to make healthy food choices. Serving in this FDA position from 2015 – 2023, Dr. Mayne led a staff of approximately 1100 employees with a budget of > $400 million. During her tenure, FDA advanced landmark food safety and nutrition policies including the implementation of the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), Closer to Zero to reduce toxic elements in foods for babies and young children, trans fat reduction, updating the iconic Nutrition Facts label to include added sugars for the first time, issuing sodium reduction targets for industry across more than 160 categories of food, and implementing menu labeling so consumers can access calorie and nutrition information when consuming foods away from home. An internationally recognized public health leader and scientist, Dr. Mayne received a B.A. in chemistry from the University of Colorado. She earned a Ph.D. in nutritional sciences, with minors in biochemistry and toxicology, from Cornell University. Prior to joining the FDA, she spent nearly three decades at the Yale School of Public Health, where she held an endowed chair as the C.-E. A. Winslow Professor of Epidemiology. Her career there included two leadership positions: Chair of the Department of Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Associate Director of the Yale Cancer Center. Dr. Mayne has conducted extensive research on food, nutrition, and health. She is author/coauthor of nearly 250 scientific publications and her work has been cited more than 17,000 times.