Sugared Soda Contributes to Childhood Obesity Epidemic, Journal Finds
Analysis of the American diet finds that much of the current epidemic of obesity can be attributed to an increase in the consumption of carbohydrates, mostly simple sugars like corn syrup.

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By Michael Long

April 28, 2004

In 1970, only 4 percent of American children aged 6-11 were overweight. By 2000, 15 percent of this population was overweight according. A staggering 27 percent of African American boys in this age group were overweight in 2000.

Researchers from the University of Louisiana and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, wanted to find out what has been changing in the American diet to cause this dramatic shift in our country’s waistline. In the study published in the April issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, authors analyzed data from the US Department of Agriculture food consumption tables from 1967 to 2000 and determined that consumption of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) increased by more than 1,000 percent between 1970 and 1990. Almost two-thirds of all HFCS consumption in the United States comes from beverages.

Researchers noted that in animal models, providing a solid sugar source to animals does not increase total caloric consumption while providing calorically sweetened beverages does not create a reduction in solid food consumption, allowing animals to slowly become obese as they consume too many calories. Researchers also noted human studies comparing consumption of calorically sweetened beverages or diet soda. Those drinking calorically sweetened beverages gained more weight than the diet soda groups.

Using data from the USDA, the researchers found that Americans older than two are consuming more than 300 calories a day from caloric sweeteners, one-sixth of the average total calorie consumption. The top twenty percent of caloric sweetener consumers are getting almost one half of all their carbohydrates from caloric sweeteners and almost one fifth of their carbohydrates from HFCS.

The authors concluded, “We propose that the introduction of HFCS and the increased intakes of soft drinks and other sweetened beverages have led to increases in total caloric and fructose consumption that are important contributors to the current epidemic of obesity.” They argue for the replacement of caloric beverage sweeteners with artificial sweeteners in order to address the growing epidemic of obesity in the United States.

At the same time as this striking report was published in the relatively obscure American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the British Medical Journal published a study involving 644 schoolchildren aged 7-11, half of whom reduced consumption of carbonated beverages by a little more than half a glass a day following a school-based intervention aimed at reducing soda consumption.

In addition to being lectured on the benefits of a healthy diet, tasting fruits to learn how to recognize natural sugars, and competing in art and music competitions to create health messages, the children were given a human tooth immersed in sweetened soda showing the effects of soda on tooth decay. The control group of children did not receive this intervention, and actually slightly increased soda consumption during the year-long study.

At the end of one year, the percentage of children who reduced consumption of carbonated beverages (both calorically sweetened and diet sodas) who were overweight or obese stayed about the same (+0.2%) while the percentage of overweight or obese children in the control group increased by 7.5%.

That is a big difference from such a simple intervention. In New York City schools, Bloomberg has received a great deal of attention for signing a deal with Snapple to distribute their juices, teas and water in 1,200 public schools. When the deal was announced, Bloomberg received praise from some quarters for removing soda and criticism from others who countered that Snapple’s fruit drinks are also high in sugar and calories. If nothing else, the Snapple change is a recognition that children’s beverages can have a significant effect on their health.

These recent studies require that public health officials and educators recognize the powerful role that calorically sweetened beverages play in the growing childhood obesity epidemic.

References:

“Consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in beverages may play a role in the epidemic of obesity,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 79, No. 4, 537-543, April 2004

“Preventing childhood obesity by reducing consumption of carbonated drinks: cluster randomised controlled trial,” British Medical Journal, April 24, 2004.

“Overweight children and adolescents by sex, age, race, and Hispanic origin: 1963-65 through 1999-2000,” Health, United States, 2003 table 69. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed on 4/26/04.