About

Barry M. Popkin, PhD, is the W. R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of nutrition at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. He holds a doctorate in agricultural economics from Cornell University. He established the Division of Nutrition Epidemiology at UNC and later founded and led the UNC Interdisciplinary Obesity Center, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). His research program focuses on understanding the stages of the Nutrition Transition, which involves the dynamic shifts in dietary intake and physical activity patterns related to obesity and other nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases (NCD). His work spans globally, including in the U.S. and low- and middle-income countries, with an emphasis on evaluating programs and policies aimed at improving population health during transitional phases. Popkin has played a central role in bringing global attention to obesity, its determinants, and consequences, and is actively involved in policy evaluation, including research on sugar-sweetened beverage taxes in countries such as Mexico, Chile, South Africa, and Brazil. He has contributed significantly to international initiatives on food, hunger, and obesity, and has been recognized with numerous awards for his global contributions to public health and nutrition.

Research topics

• Environmental health
• Medicine
• Computer Science
• Business
• Food science
• Geography
• Political Science
• Biology
• Information Retrieval
• Internal medicine
• Advertising
• Gerontology
• Biotechnology
• Virology
• Applied psychology
• Communication
• Social psychology
• Demography
• Psychology
• Data science
• Pediatrics
• Marketing
• Endocrinology

Selected publications

• National Policies to Limit Food Marketing and Competitive Food Sales in Schools: A Global Scoping Review

  UNC Libraries · 2025-12-18

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Exploring disparities in the proportion of ultra-processed foods and beverages purchased in grocery stores by US households in 2020

  Public Health Nutrition · 2025-01-01 · 5 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Abstract Objective: American diets are increasingly based on ultra-processed foods (UPF). Current research, particularly on socio-economic differentials, is lacking. This study aimed to provide an updated examination of US household purchases of UPF and how this differs by race–ethnicity, household income and household education. Design: The NielsenIQ Consumer Panel 2020 was utilised for analysis. Each food and beverage product purchased by US households was assigned a level of processing under the Nova level of processing classification system. The volume of UPF purchased overall and by food group was determined for each Nova processing group and examined by race–ethnicity, education and income. Results were stratified by race–ethnicity within each income group. A P value < 0·0001 was considered significant. Setting: This study analysed data from the Nielsen IQ Consumer Panel 2020 which recorded household food purchases in the USA. Participants: The Nielsen IQ Homescan Consumer Panel is a nationally representative longitudinal survey of around 35 000 and 60 000 US households. Results: Of 33 054 687 products purchased by 59 939 US households in 2020, 48 % of foods and 38 % of beverages were considered UPF. Categories with the highest proportion of purchases deriving from UPF included carbonated soft drinks (90 %), mixed dishes and soups (81 %) and sweets and snacks (71 %). Slightly higher but statistically significant proportions of UPF purchases occurred in the lowest income and education groups and among non-Hispanic whites. Conclusions: It is concerning that household purchases of UPF in the USA are high. Policies that reduce consumption of UPF may help reduce diet-related health inequalities.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Nutrition transition's latest stage: Are ultra‐processed food increases in low‐ and middle‐income countries dooming our preschoolers' diets and future health?

  UNC Libraries · 2025-12-18

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  INTRODUCTION: Rapid shifts in dietary patterns, marked by increased consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), are increasingly impacting the health and wellbeing of infants and toddlers in low- and middle-income countries. METHODS: Utilizing data from the Demographic and Health Surveys, other national surveys, NCD-RisC data and Euromonitor sales data, we examine changes in stunting and overweight/obesity prevalence alongside the latest data on UPF consumption trends. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight/obesity among children and mothers is increasing rapidly while stunting rates decline slowly. Simultaneously, there is a significant increase in consumption of UPFs, especially among preschool-aged children. Increasingly, poorer households are experiencing faster rates of increase in overweight and obesity prevalence compared to wealthier households. Results highlight the early socialization of infants and toddlers to unhealthy discretionary foods including UPFs, potentially setting the stage for long-term dietary preferences that favour food with high sugar or excess sodium. CONCLUSION: There is an urgent need to address the rapid increases in UPF consumption among infants and toddlers. Options include expanding the WHO Code on marketing to protect 0-3-year-olds; creating front-of-package warning labels focusing on products for children ages 0-3 years to remove all added sugar and limit sodium in foods and beverages they consume.

  PublisherDOI

• The mismatch between biological needs and the modern food industry

  Nature Food · 2025-03-10 · 3 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Exploring disparities in the proportion of ultra-processed foods and beverages purchased in grocery stores by US households in 2020.

  UNC Libraries · 2025-12-18

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  OBJECTIVE: American diets are increasingly based on ultra-processed foods (UPFs). Current research, particularly on socioeconomic differentials, is lacking. This study aimed to provide an updated examination of US household purchases of UPFs and how this differs by race-ethnicity, household income and household education. DESIGN: The NielsenIQ Consumer Panel 2020 was utilized for analysis. Each food and beverage product purchased by US households was assigned a level of processing under the Nova level of processing classification system. The volume of UPFs purchased overall and by food group was determined for each Nova processing group and examined by race-ethnicity, education, and income. Results were stratified by race-ethnicity within each income group. A P value < 0.0001 was considered significant. SETTING: This study analyzed data from the Nielsen IQ Consumer Panel 2020 which recorded household food purchases in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: The Nielsen IQ Homescan Consumer Panel is a nationally representative longitudinal survey of around 35,000 and 60,000 US households. RESULTS: Of 33,054,687 products purchased by 59,939 US households in 2020, 48% foods and 38% beverages were considered UPFs. Categories with the highest proportion of purchases deriving from UPFs included carbonated soft drinks (90%), mixed dishes and soups (81%) and sweets and snacks (71%). Slightly higher but statistically significant proportions of UPF purchases occurred in the lowest income and education groups and among non-Hispanic whites. CONCLUSIONS: It is concerning that household purchases of UPFs in the US are high. Policies that reduce consumption of UPFs may help reduce diet-related health inequalities.

  PublisherDOI

• The promise and pitfalls of “Make America Healthy Again”

  UNC Libraries · 2025-09-02

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• The promise and pitfalls of “Make America Healthy Again”

  The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology · 2025-03-06 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Policies to halt and reverse the rise in ultra-processed food production, marketing, and consumption

  The Lancet · 2025-11-19 · 51 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Nutrition transition's latest stage: Are ultra‐processed food increases in low‐ and middle‐income countries dooming our preschoolers' diets and future health?

  Pediatric Obesity · 2025-02-26 · 17 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  INTRODUCTION: Rapid shifts in dietary patterns, marked by increased consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), are increasingly impacting the health and wellbeing of infants and toddlers in low- and middle-income countries. METHODS: Utilizing data from the Demographic and Health Surveys, other national surveys, NCD-RisC data and Euromonitor sales data, we examine changes in stunting and overweight/obesity prevalence alongside the latest data on UPF consumption trends. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight/obesity among children and mothers is increasing rapidly while stunting rates decline slowly. Simultaneously, there is a significant increase in consumption of UPFs, especially among preschool-aged children. Increasingly, poorer households are experiencing faster rates of increase in overweight and obesity prevalence compared to wealthier households. Results highlight the early socialization of infants and toddlers to unhealthy discretionary foods including UPFs, potentially setting the stage for long-term dietary preferences that favour food with high sugar or excess sodium. CONCLUSION: There is an urgent need to address the rapid increases in UPF consumption among infants and toddlers. Options include expanding the WHO Code on marketing to protect 0-3-year-olds; creating front-of-package warning labels focusing on products for children ages 0-3 years to remove all added sugar and limit sodium in foods and beverages they consume.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• African domestic supply booms in value chains of fruits, vegetables, and animal products fueled by spontaneous clusters of SMEs

  UNC Libraries · 2025-12-18

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  There is an international consensus that Africans consume less fruits and vegetables (FV), and animal products (AP) than they need for adequate nutrition, and that production and supply chains of these products are constrained. Yet, in this paper, we show that despite these problems, there is a lot of dynamism in demand and supply of these nutrient‐dense products in Africa: (1) macro evidence of “domestic supply booms"—with supply growing as fast as or faster than in Asia and Latin America; (2) only 2–4% of FV, and 10% of AP consumption in Africa is imported, and only about 1–2% of the output of FV and AP is exported: the supply booms have thus been overwhelming domestically sourced, not imported; (3) micro evidence of substantial shares of consumption of FV and AP in total food consumption, similar to Asia's; (4) evidence of rapid development of spontaneous clusters of farms and off‐farm SMEs (output wholesalers, logistics, processors, and agro‐dealers supporting farmers). These clusters are important in fueling the supply booms. Illustrative cases from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Zambia are presented. We recommend that African governments and international partners: (1) internalize the fact that these spontaneous clusters are forming and already fueling supply booms; (2) note that important drivers of the booms have been government investments in wholesale markets, roads, and other infrastructure like electrification, and agricultural research/extension; (3) leverage and support existing spontaneous clusters and help new ones to form by greatly increasing those three types of public investments.

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R01HD039183

  NIH · $780k · 2005

• NIH Grant D43TW009077

  NIH · $1.1M · 2018

• NIH Grant R01HD019983

  NIH · $1.1M · 1993

• NIH Grant R01HD018880

  NIH · $311k · 1989

• NIH Grant R01CA121152

  NIH · $1.4M · 2011

Frequent coauthors

• Penny Gordon‐Larsen

  198 shared

• Linda S. Adair

  University of North Carolina Health Care

  146 shared

• Kiyah J. Duffey

  142 shared

• Shu Wen Ng

  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

  122 shared

• Michelle A. Méndez

  Western Sydney University

  96 shared

• Walter C. Willett

  Brigham and Women's Hospital

  96 shared

• Shufa Du

  91 shared

• David R. Jacobs

  University of Minnesota

  89 shared

Awards & honors

• David Kritchevsky Memorial Lecture 2018
• Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health Council of the American…
• UNC-CH Population Science and Public Health Award (2017)
• World Obesity Federation Conrad A. Elvehjem Award for Public…
• American Society of Nutrition Gopalan Oration Award (2015)