Consumption patterns of sweetened food and drink products in a Catholic Middle Eastern Canadian community

Abstract Objective The present study describes the consumption patterns of sweetened food and drink products in a Catholic Middle Eastern Canadian community and examines its associations with physical activity, sedentary behaviours and BMI. Design A two-stage cross-sectional design was used. In Stage 1 (n 42), 24 h recalls enabled the identification of sweetened products. In Stage 2 (n 192), an FFQ was administered to measure the daily consumption of these products and to collect sociodemographic and behavioural data. Sweetened products were defined as processed culinary ingredients and ultra-processed products for which total sugar content exceeded 20 % of total energy. Setting Three Catholic Middle Eastern churches located in Montreal, Canada. Subjects Normoglycaemic men and women (18-60 years old). Results Twenty-six sweetened products represented an average consumption of 75·4 g total sugars/d or 15·1 % of daily energy intake (n 190, 56 % women). Soft drinks, juices, sweetened coffee, chocolate, cookies, cakes and muffins were the main sources of consumption and mostly consumed between meals. Age (exp (β) = 0·99; P < 0·01), physical activity (exp (β) = 1·08; P < 0·01) and recreational computer use (exp (β) = 1·17; P < 0·01) were independently associated with sweetened product consumption. The association between sweetened product consumption and physical activity was U-shaped. BMI was not significantly associated with sweetened product consumption but all participants regardless of BMI were above the WHO recommendation for free sugars. Conclusions Being physically active and spending less time using a computer may favour a reduced consumption of sweetened products. Very active individuals may, however, overconsume such products.