They were the inaugural American generation to start their morning with brightly colored breakfast cereal, or traipse to school with a Pop-Tart in hand. Generation X and ultraprocessed food grew up together.

Now, a study from the University of Michigan shows that 21% of Gen X women — and 10% of men — meet criteria for addiction to these products, which are inundated with extra salt, sugar and fat. This includes folks on the tail end of the Baby Boom generation, too.

These percentages are much higher than those of people who grew up 10 to 20 years earlier and first sampled ultraprocessed foods in adulthood. This cohort, ages 65 to 80, only saw 12% of women and 4% of men meet criteria for ultraprocessed food addiction.

The number crunching comes from a nationally representative batch of data surveying more than 2,000 older Americans on healthy aging.

The survey included questions about experiences with ultraprocessed foods and drinks, asking participants to identify cravings, unsuccessful attempts to decrease their consumption, withdrawal symptoms and avoiding social activities due to worries of overeating.

While they’re not substances viewed as traditionally addictive, like nicotine or alcohol, sweets, fast food and sugary beverages are still “rewarding.” Even weight-control foods, popular in the 1980s, could have solidified addictive eating patterns, researchers said.

The heft of ultraprocessed foods’ impact on these generations —particularly in women — could be explained by their exposure during key developmental windows.

And though access to these items isn’t limited by federal regulations, or by customer age, that doesn’t mean they might not require intervention.