A 17-year-old could start suffering from early diabetes if he’s eating too much processed food.

Even at such a young age, he can start showing signs of prediabetes, such as insulin resistance, which eventually can lead to type 2 diabetes.

A group of 85 young people, aged from 17 to 23, were tracked for four years to see the impact of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) on their health.

Just eating an extra helping of UPFs had a profound on their health, say researchers from Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California.  A 10 percent increase in UPFs in the diet resulted in a 64 percent higher risk of prediabetes, and a 56 percent higher risk of impaired glucose regulation.

Those eating more UPFs at the start of the study were also more likely to show elevated insulin levels, an early indicator of insulin resistance when the body compensates for reduced insulin effectiveness by producing more of it.

UPFs, which include fast foods and packaged snacks, represents more than half the calories the average American eats.

Just replacing UPFs with more fruits and vegetables when you’re young could be enough to ward off type 2 diabetes in middle age, the researchers say.

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