Ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption linked not only to physical disease but also to poorer emotional and cognitive function in young adults, a new Sapien Labs study under the Global Mind Project found.India showed relatively low regular UPF consumption compared to other countries. However, it is substantially high at 44% among those in the 18-34 age group, and 11% for those above 55 years.The report measured the Mind Health Quotient (MHQ), gauging a person’s ability to handle life’s challenges and function productively.“MHQ is not simply a readout of depression or anxiety,” said Arun Gupta, lead India author of the recent Lancet series on ultra-processed foods and their health harms. “It is a composite metric aggregating respondent ratings across 47 cognitive, emotional, social, and physical capacities that enable or diminish effective daily functioning.”The report says young adults aged 18-34 in India have an MHQ of 33 which puts them at a rank of 60 out of 84 countries.Older Indian adults ranked at 49 compared to their global counterparts but with a higher MHQ score of 96.”While regular UPF consumption in India was relatively low compared to other countries among those 18-34 with a rank of 71, at 44% it was stillsubstantially higher than the 11% for those 55+,” the study adds. Both 18-34 and 55+ age groups ranked 28 for family closeness while spirituality scores were in the middle third for both age groups, with those 18-34 ranking 39 and those 55+ ranking 28.According to the study, 41% of Internet-enabled young adults (18–34 years) globally are experiencing clinically significant mind health challenges. Young adults are now nearly four times more likely than adults over 55 to report serious impairment in their ability to function productively in daily life.Under the study, UPF consumption was studied across 2024 and 2025 in 85 countries by asking respondents to select from five categories of UPF consumption frequency from “several times a day” to “rarely/never”.Among the identified contributors to mind health decline are early smartphone exposure, weakened family bonds, reduced spirituality and ultra-processed food consumption, UPFs emerge as a modifiable and policy-relevant determinant, it said.“This report compels us to rethink ultra-processed foods not merely as a contributor to obesity, but as a potential driver of declining cognitive and emotional resilience in our younger populations. When dietary patterns begin to erode attention, emotional control and mental well-being, the issue is no longer individual choice; it becomes a matter of national human capital. Protecting the food and nutritional environment of children and adolescents is, therefore, an investment in India’s intellectual and economic future,” Lancet study author Arun Gupta and convenor, Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest (NAPi), said.The Lancet analysis highlighted India as one of the fastest-growing UPF markets, with consumption surging rapidly over 15 years—four times higher among youth than those over 55. Experts warned that India’s demographic dividend hinges on a mentally resilient young population, echoing the Economic Survey 2025-26’s call for food labelling.