Dear Editor,

This is just a quick note to tell you how much I enjoyed reading the Commentary by Marilyn Harris - "I Remember When...." In the July/August issue. I can't believe nursing students had to get weighed in...can you imagine doing that now?! And I love the list of competencies...with dates too. Thanks to Marilyn for sharing her memories and for all that she's done for home care over the years!

Mary McGoldrick, MS, RN, CRNI(R)

Highly processed foods form bulk of U.S. youths' diets

NIH: About 20% of youth aged 2 to 19 are considered obese. Previous research has suggested that "ultra-processed" foods may directly contribute to weight gain. These foods contain ingredients rarely found in home cooking, such as high-fructose corn syrup. Examples of ultra-processed foods include sodas, candy, industrial breads and breakfast cereals, and ready-to-eat frozen foods. Researchers at Tufts University examined recent trends in ultra-processed food consumption among U.S. youth. Overall, the proportion of calories in youths' diets that came from ultra-processed foods rose between 1999 to 2018, from about 61% to 67%. The proportion from whole, unprocessed foods dropped from almost 29% to 23.5%. The biggest jump in ultra-processed food consumption came from frozen meals, which accounted for about 11% of daily calories in 2018, compared with 2% in 1999. The percentage of calories that came from sweets and sweet snacks also rose during the time period studied, from about 10% to almost 13%. Consumption of sodas and other sugary drinks dropped during the years studied, from accounting for almost 11% of daily calories to around 5%. These trends were observed for all ages, for boys and girls, and for all racial and ethnic groups. No differences in consumption were seen based on household education or income levels.