Are ultra-processed foods changing the shape of our jaws?

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have caused concern among experts for their potential impact on human health, but now scientists have warned they might also affect how our bodies develop, in particular our jaws.

A number of studies based on skull measurements of individuals from different populations have revealed the shape of the human jawbone is associated with diet.

Populations that rely on agriculture have been found to have different shaped, typically smaller, jawbones than hunter-gatherers. This has been found in populations that lived either side of the transition to farming and in those living at a similar point in time but with a different diet. In the latter case, experts found the jawbones in children were similar before they were old enough to chew.

Researchers have even found differences in the size and shape of jawbones of people who lived before and after industrialisation, a time when people began to rely more on processed foods.

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