中文导读 超加工食品方便、便宜、口感强，在美国儿童日常热量中约占三分之二，但它们如何牵动仍在发育的大脑，长期不清楚。南加州大学凯克医学院 Kathleen A. Page 团队结合饮食记录、身体成分与看食物图片时的脑成像，发现摄入更多超加工食品的儿童，奖赏相关脑区对诱人食物线索反应更强，且这种反应与一年后体脂和体重指数升幅相关。研究刊于《JAMA Network Open》，ScienceDaily 于 2026-11-03 据校方材料报道。阅读时可留意 may、suggests、observational 如何区分关联与因果。
正文 Many children eat ultra-processed foods every day . These products , such as breakfast cereals , packaged bread and instant soups , are made to taste good , stay fresh and be easy to prepare . In the United States , they provide about 67 percent of the calories that children consume . Past studies have linked them to weight gain and other health risks , but scientists still ask how the developing brain may be involved
本段译文 许多儿童每天都吃超加工食品。这类产品——例如早餐麦片、包装面包和速食汤——被做成口感好、易于保存且方便准备。在美国，它们提供儿童摄入热量的约 67%。以往研究已把它们与体重增加及其他健康风险联系起来，但科学家仍在追问：发育中的大脑可能如何参与其中。
A new study from the Keck School of Medicine of USC offers one clue Researchers led by Dr Kathleen A . Page studied 46 children aged seven to 10 who began at a healthy weight . The work belongs to the long-term BrainChild project and was published in JAMA Network Open . ScienceDaily reported the findings on 3 November 2026. The team used magnetic resonance imaging while children viewed pictures of appealing foods , such as cookies or French fries . They also recorded diet , body mass index , body fat percentage and waist size , then repeated the body measures after one year .
本段译文 南加州大学凯克医学院的一项新研究提供了一条线索。由凯瑟琳·A·佩奇博士带领的研究者，研究了 46 名起始为健康体重的 7 至 10 岁儿童。该工作属于长期的 BrainChild 项目，并发表于《JAMA Network Open》。ScienceDaily 于 2026 年 11 月 3 日报道了这些发现。团队在儿童观看诱人食物图片（例如饼干或薯条）时使用磁共振成像，同时记录饮食、体重指数、体脂率和腰围，并在一年后再次测量身体指标。
Children who ate more ultra-processed foods showed stronger activity in the dorsal striatum , a brain region linked to reward and motivation . Stronger responses in that region were also associated with greater rises in body mass index and body fat over the following year . Overall , higher ultra-processed intake went with larger waist size , higher body mass index and more body fat at follow-up . When the team accounted for differences in striatal responses , the links to body mass index and body fat became 31 percent and 44 percent weaker . That pattern suggests food-cue sensitivity may help explain part of the association
本段译文 摄入更多超加工食品的儿童，在背侧纹状体——一个与奖赏和动机相关的脑区——表现出更强的活动。该区域更强的反应，也与随后一年体重指数和体脂升幅更大相关。总体而言，超加工摄入更高，随访时腰围更大、体重指数更高、体脂更多。当团队把纹状体反应的差异纳入考虑后，与体重指数和体脂的关联分别减弱了 31% 和 44%。这一模式提示：对食物线索的敏感性，或许有助于解释部分关联。
The authors stress clear limits . The study was observational , so it cannot prove that ultra-processed foods cause brain changes or weight gain . The sample was also small . Families alone cannot solve the problem , Page notes , because these products are often cheap convenient and widely available . Changing the food environment so that less processed options are easier to obtain may matter as much as personal advice .
本段译文 作者强调了明确的局限。该研究属于观察性，因此不能证明超加工食品导致脑变化或体重增加。样本也较小。佩奇指出，单靠家庭无法解决问题，因为这些产品往往便宜、方便且随处可得。改变食物环境，使加工更少的选择更易获得，其重要性或许不亚于个人层面的建议。
Page hopes to test cause and effect in a future trial that replaces ultra-processed meals with more minimally processed food and then tracks brain responses and body composition Meanwhile , BrainChild will follow the same children through puberty . The present results do not settle every question , yet they add careful evidence that reward circuits may sit on the path between everyday packaged foods and later adiposity .
本段译文 佩奇希望在未来的试验中检验因果：用加工更少的食物替换超加工餐食，再追踪脑反应与身体成分。与此同时，BrainChild 将继续跟随同一批儿童度过青春期。目前的结果并不能裁定每一个问题，但它补充了审慎的证据：奖赏回路或许处在日常包装食品与日后脂肪堆积之间的路径上。
新闻来源