Prospective associations between sugar-sweetened beverage intakes and cardiometabolic risk factors in adolescents

Abstract

Background: High sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption is associated with cardiometabolic disturbances in adults, but this relation is relatively unexplored in children and adolescents.Objective: We tested the hypothesis that higher SSB intakes are associated with increases in cardiometabolic risk factors between 14 and 17 y of age.Design: Data were provided by 1433 adolescent offspring from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study. At 14 and 17 y of age, SSB intakes were estimated by using a food-frequency questionnaire; body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, blood pressure, fasting serum lipids, glucose, and insulin were measured, and overall cardiometabolic risk was estimated. Prospective associations between cardiovascular disease risk factors and SSB intake were examined with adjustment for age, pubertal stage, physical fitness, socioeconomic status, and major dietary patterns.Results: The average SSB intake in consumers (89%) was 335 g/d or 1.3 servings/d. Girls who moved into the top tertile of SSB consumption (>1.3 servings/d) between 14 and 17 y of age had increases in BMI (3.8%; 95% CI: 1.8%, 5.7%), increased overweight and obesity risk (OR: 4.8, 95% CI: 2.1, 11.4), and greater overall cardiometabolic risk (OR: 3.2; 95% CI: 1.6, 6.2) (all P-trend ≤ 0.001). Girls and boys who moved into the top tertile of SSB intake showed increases in triglycerides (7.0–8.4%; P-trend ≤ 0.03), and boys showed reductions in HDL cholesterol (−3.1%; 95% CI: −6.2%, 0.1%; P-trend < 0.04) independent of BMI. Some associations were attenuated after adjustment for major dietary patterns.Conclusion: Increased SSB intake may be an important predictor of cardiometabolic risk in young people, independent of weight status.

Ultra-processed food purchases in Norway: a quantitative study on a representative sample of food retailers

“…Energy share from sugar exceeds the recommended 10 %, and children and adolescents consume an even higher energy share from sweets than adults (40,42) . There is evidence of the link between excessive intake of free sugars, especially through sugar-sweetened beverages, and overweight and NCD (44)(45)(46) . Although the high sugar intake is well known and problematic, the current study indicates that even more effort is needed on reducing intake of the sweet ultra-processed products that are the main vehicles for sugar intake.…”

Sugar-Sweetened Beverage but Not Diet Soda Consumption Is Positively Associated with Progression of Insulin Resistance and Prediabetes

“…Some short-term intervention studies found that high intakes of sucrose (6) or fructose (7,8) appear to reduce insulin sensitivity, whereas others failed to show such effects (9,10). Conflicting findings have also emerged from observational studies that examined habitual intakes of different types or sources of sugars and HOMA-IR in adults (11)(12)(13)(14) and children (15)(16)(17). Furthermore, to our knowledge, few studies have examined the longterm association between SSB intake and the incidence of prediabetes, separately from T2D, in healthy adults.…”

Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Weight Gain in Children and Adults: A Systematic Review from 2013 to 2015 and a Comparison with Previous Studies

“…In 2 studies under-reporters were included in the analysis but with adjustment for underreporting, and in 4 studies under-reporters were excluded. Five studies used BMI as body weight outcome [20,21,22,23,24], 5 BMI Z-score [25,26,27,28,29], 3 body fat [30,31,32], 3 waist circumference [33,34,35], and 1 weight-for-height z-score [36] (table 1). Almost all (94%) of the articles showed a positive association between SSB intake and body weight measures, meaning that a higher SSB consumption lead to a higher degree of adiposity.…”