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Introduction: Agrobiodiversity is key for promoting healthy diets and moving towards more sustainable food systems. Conversely, monocultures and homogenous diets threaten the diversity of species available for human food. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the diversity of plant species mobilized by household food acquisitions in Brazil. Methods: Data from the 2017-18 National Household Budget Survey were used to quantify the total amount of foods (kilograms) and beverages (litres) purchased per person per year by household aggregates (n=575). Food items were classified according to the Nova classification system. Those items classified as Nova groups 1 and 2 were directly identified at the species level by using taxonomical classification from four data sources. Ingredient lists from the UNC/IDEC/NUPENS national food label database were used to determine the composition of processed and ultra-processed foods. The percent composition of the ingredients was estimated and classified at the species level. The total amount of animalsourced foods acquired by households were proportionally converted into the plant species utilized as feed inputs in their production. The Shannon index was used to assess the diversity of plant species. Linear regression models were used to test associations between sociodemographic characteristics and the Shannon index. Results: Six species accounted for more than 90% of the total amount of plant species mobilized by Brazilian households through their food purchases. This was reflected by a low average value of the Shannon index for the Brazilian population (H=0.87; 95%CI 0.85; 0.88), indicating low diversity. Mean values of this index tended to increase with income and were significantly lower in the North and Midwest regions and in urban areas. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate a low diversity of plant species mobilized by Brazilian households through their food purchases in 2017-18. This is in line with previous studies demonstrating increasing homogeneity of global food supplies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & aims: few longitudinal studies have been conducted on ultra-processed food (UPF) and weight gain in low- to middle-income countries (LMIC), especially with young adults and with an innovative appropriate instrument to capture UPF consumption. We aim to evaluate the prospective associations between UPF consumption and incidence of 10% or more gain in body mass index (BMI) in Brazilian young adults. Methods: the study population are 18-29 years old Brazilians enrolled at NutriNet-Brasil study, an open web-based cohort for volunteers that started enrollment in January 2020. All variables were self-reported. UPF consumption (percentage of caloric contribution in diet) was assessed by two 24-hour food recalls and categorized into quartiles. The participants had 1-3 measures of weight at follow-up. Multivariable cox regression models were performed to examine the association between the exposure and the incidence of 10% or more gain in BMI. Included covariates were sex, age, housing macro-region, years of schooling, goods and services score, skin color, leisure physical activity, smoking, sleep, leisure screen time, alcohol consumption, lower than usual caloric intake and BMI at baseline. Participants who reported pregnancy at any time point of follow-up or who had implausible measurements of weight, height, age, and caloric intake were excluded. Results: 2,105 young adults were included in the analyses. With a mean follow-up of 17.2 months, there were 234 outcome cases. The higher the UPF consumption, the greater the chance for weight gain in the adjusted models for the total sample and of women (p-trend < 0.05). Using the first quartile of UPF consumption as a reference, in the last quartile the risk of weight gain increased by 65% for the total sample, and in 72% for women. Conclusions: The results confirm the direct relationship between the consumption of ultraprocessed foods and weight gain and reinforce the need to implement and/or strengthen public policies that discourage UPF consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and Objective: Both ultra-processed foods (UPF) and animal-based foods have been associated with cardiovascular disease in some studies. Our study aims to examine the prospective association of two dietary factors (UPF and animal-based foods), adjusted for each other, with cardiovascular-related mortality using the UK Biobank cohort. Methods: Participants of the UK Biobank from England, Scotland, and Wales with at least two 24-h dietary recall completed between 2009 and 2012 were included. The exposure of interest was 2 dietary factors: 1) proportion of dietary energy from UPF and 2) proportion of dietary energy from animal-based foods (red meat, poultry/fish, and eggs/dairy). The main outcome was cardiovascular-cause mortality, identified through data linkage to mortality registries. Prospective association was assessed using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for baseline sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics. Results: Among 126,639 participants followed for a mean of 9.2 years, there were 1,327 cardiovascular deaths. In mutually adjusted models of both dietary factors (UPF and animal-based foods), the hazard ratio for the 5th compared with the 1st quintile of the proportion of dietary energy from UPF was 1.47 (95% CI: 1.22, 1.76, comparing 41.5% with 9.4% dietary energy), whereas for animal-based food intake (meats, dairy, eggs) it was 1.10 (95% CI: 0.93, 1.32, comparing 45.3% with 16.8% dietary energy). There was no evidence of interaction (P = 0.51). Among animalbased foods, none of the subgroups was associated with CVD mortality. Conclusion: Greater consumption of UPF was associated with higher cardiovascular-cause mortality in this UK population. The total of animal-based food consumption (meat, dairy, eggs) was not associated with cardiovascular mortality, neither red meat intake. These findings suggest that the proportion of UPF in the diet may be more important with respect to cardiovascular mortality than the proportion of animal-based foods. Funding Cancer Research UK and World Cancer Research Fund. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]