It's What We Swig That Makes Us Big

Study finds more calories come from soft drinks, fruit drinks

By Amanda Gardner, HealthDay Reporter


THURSDAY, Nov. 20 (HealthDayNews) -- It may not be what we eat that's making us obese as much as what we drink.

In 1996, Americans consumed 83 more calories each day from caloric sweeteners than they did in 1997. Eighty percent of that (66 calories) came from soft drinks and fruit drinks, a new study says.

But Americans are not the only ones experiencing a surge in the use of these sweeteners (a general category that includes sugar, high fructose corn syrup, maltose, dextrose and other products). The average diet increased by 74 calories per day worldwide, although it's not clear how much of that increase was due to beverages.

Consuming an additional 10 calories per day adds one extra pound per year, says Barry Popkin, lead author of the study appearing in the November issue of Obesity Research. Popkin is a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health in Chapel Hill.

One way or another, the change is contributing to the rising tide of obesity, which in turn is increasing the risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke and other conditions.

"If we are going to consume more beverages, we are going to gain weight," Popkin states. "We consume a little more from ready-to-eat cereals, candy, a little extra dessert, but those pale in comparison to the soft drinks and fruit drinks."

One concern is that calories from fluids are less satisfying than those from solid foods. "When you drink highly sweetened beverages, they don't feel like a thick, rich, creamy, high-calorie treat -- but they are," says Samantha Heller, senior clinical nutritionist at New York University Medical Center. "You don't necessarily feel it until you step on the scale or try to fit into your blue jeans."

Another problem is that these highly sweetened drinks may be replacing healthier choices such as nonfat milk or even high-fiber foods. "In children and teens this may increase the risk of nutrient deficiencies like calcium and vitamin D," Heller adds.

Popkin and his co-author, doctoral student Samara Joy Nielsen, looked at food data from 103 countries in 1962 and 127 countries in 2000 along with U.S. Department of Agriculture surveys from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Worldwide, the average diet increased by 74 calories a day, 82 percent of that change attributable to urbanization and income growth. The caloric intake of sugar increased more in lower- and middle-income countries than in higher-income countries between 1962 and 2000.

The 83 calorie-per-day increase in caloric sweetener use in the United States represented a 22 percent spike in the proportion of energy people were deriving from the sweeteners. After soft drinks and fruit drinks, desserts and sugar/jellies represented the major sources of caloric sweeteners in this country.

And soft drinks and fruit drinks are disproportionately consumed by the under-30 crowd, particularly 10-to-30-year-olds. "That's the time when it's even scarier, when we get our bone density, when we need milk and need many of the foods that have nutrients, not just nothing which is what sugar has," Popkin says. "Sugar has calories to make us fat with no other benefit."

The only good news is that at least researchers now know what the culprit is, certainly in the United States and quite probably in other parts of the world as well.

"The bottom line is we've got to do several things in this country," Popkin says. "We've got to think about labeling added sugar on all products. We don't know it's hidden. Secondly, most of the soft drinks in America come from parents so we've got to start educating them. They've got to start feeding their kids milk and slow down themselves on soft drinks."

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends limiting "added sugar" (which includes other caloric sweeteners) to 10 percent of total calories.

"Sugar isn't necessarily evil," Heller says. "It's just that added sugars are more calories than we need and they're not nutritive."


http://www.healthscout.com/news/1/516140/main.html

Don't let the sugar industry hear you say that!

LOL!!

And don't let them hear of any attempt to associate this increased sugary drink consumption with the rise in Type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance and atherosclerosis in children.


Doreen

Eh? This tells me calorie consumption dropped year to year, not that it went up.

they are saying that 66 calories of the extra 83 calories come from soft drinks and fruit drinks.

You are somewhat correct on the Calorie issue...Consumption of Calories and Fat has dropped significantly since the 50s/60s. The LF Zealots like to claim that Calorie and Fat intake are up by comparing current intakes to those in the mid-80s, when the LF Fad was at its peak. Calorie and Fat intake has REBOUNDED slightly since their lowest point in the 80s, but are still significantly lower than they were for the first 70 years of this century.

What is noteworthy is that CARBOHYDRATE Consumption, especially refined carbs (Sugar and White Flour) is up significantly compared to the first half of the century, despite the fact we are eating less Calories than we were then. We are eating less overall, but more Carbs...especially Sugar and White Flour, and Obesity is running rampant.

It must be a typo. According to the study abstract ..
Doreen

I couldn't agree more with this article.

The low fat dogma had everyone over the last 20 years quaffing down orange juice, apple juice, and any kind of juice in unprecedented amounts by merely saying, "oh, don't drink soda. drink juice as if it were water. it has no fat, don't worry about it." Jeez, soda has no fat either and its less calories than a glass of orange juice, right?

I'm the first to admit that I'm prone to have my sweets occasionally. Food for thought here. If I were to cut out a can of Coke and a glass of orange juice, that's about 400 calories. Now, with that 400 calories, I can eat about 1.5 cups of rich ice cream.

So, for now, it's goodbye to soda and juices for a while. I'll settle for a cup of ice cream and an orange.