TY - JOUR
T1 - Dietary sugar intake and its association with obesity in children and adolescents
AU - Magriplis, Emmanuella
AU - Michas, George
AU - Petridi, Evgenia
AU - Chrousos, George P.
AU - Roma, Eleftheria
AU - Benetou, Vassiliki
AU - Cholopoulos, Nikos
AU - Micha, Renata
AU - Panagiotakos, Demosthenes
AU - Zampelas, Antonis
N1 - Funding Information:
Funding: The study was co-funded by the European Union (European Social Fund) and Greece (Ministry of Health) under the Operational Program “Human Resources Development 2007–2013”.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors.
PY - 2021/8
Y1 - 2021/8
N2 - Sugar intake has been associated with increased prevalence of childhood overweight/obesity; however, results remain controversial. The aim of this study was to examine the probability of overweight/obesity with higher sugar intakes, accounting for other dietary intakes. Data from 1165 children and adolescents aged ≥2-18 years (66.8% males) enrolled in the Hellenic National Nutrition and Health Survey (HNNHS) were used; specifically, 781 children aged 2-11 years and 384 adolescents 12-18 years. Total and added sugar intake were assessed using two 24 h recalls (24 hR). Foods were categorized into specific food groups to evaluate the main foods contributing to intakes. A significant proportion of children (18.7%) and adolescents (24.5%) exceeded the recommended cut-off of 10% of total energy intake from added sugars. Sweets (29.8%) and processed/refined grains and cereals (19.1%) were the main sources of added sugars in both age groups, while in adolescents, the third main contributor was sugar-sweetened beverages (20.6%). Being overweight or obese was 2.57 (p = 0.002) and 1.77 (p = 0.047) times more likely for intakes ≥10% of total energy from added sugars compared to less <10%, when accounting for food groups and macronutrient intakes, respectively. The predicted probability of becoming obese was also significant with higher total and added-sugar consumption. We conclude that high consumption of added sugars increased the probability for overweight/obesity among youth, irrespectively of other dietary or macronutrient intakes.
AB - Sugar intake has been associated with increased prevalence of childhood overweight/obesity; however, results remain controversial. The aim of this study was to examine the probability of overweight/obesity with higher sugar intakes, accounting for other dietary intakes. Data from 1165 children and adolescents aged ≥2-18 years (66.8% males) enrolled in the Hellenic National Nutrition and Health Survey (HNNHS) were used; specifically, 781 children aged 2-11 years and 384 adolescents 12-18 years. Total and added sugar intake were assessed using two 24 h recalls (24 hR). Foods were categorized into specific food groups to evaluate the main foods contributing to intakes. A significant proportion of children (18.7%) and adolescents (24.5%) exceeded the recommended cut-off of 10% of total energy intake from added sugars. Sweets (29.8%) and processed/refined grains and cereals (19.1%) were the main sources of added sugars in both age groups, while in adolescents, the third main contributor was sugar-sweetened beverages (20.6%). Being overweight or obese was 2.57 (p = 0.002) and 1.77 (p = 0.047) times more likely for intakes ≥10% of total energy from added sugars compared to less <10%, when accounting for food groups and macronutrient intakes, respectively. The predicted probability of becoming obese was also significant with higher total and added-sugar consumption. We conclude that high consumption of added sugars increased the probability for overweight/obesity among youth, irrespectively of other dietary or macronutrient intakes.
KW - Added sugars
KW - Adolescents
KW - Children
KW - Dietary intake
KW - Overweight and obesity
KW - Total sugars
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85112748161&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/children8080676
DO - 10.3390/children8080676
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85112748161
SN - 2227-9067
VL - 8
SP - 1
EP - 14
JO - Children
JF - Children
IS - 8
M1 - 676
ER -