Association of Dietary Sugar and Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake with Obesity in Korean Children and Adolescents

Abstract

In recent years, there has been growing concern that dietary sugar intake?including sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs)?is associated with obesity in children and adolescents. However, in the Asian population, relatively low sugar intake is typically reported and few studies have examined the association between dietary sugar intake and obesity in Asian children and adolescents. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate dietary sugar and its food source and examine the association of sugar intake with obesity in Korean children and adolescents. Data were obtained from five studies conducted between 2002 and 2011. The study included 2,599 children who had completed three or more days of dietary records and had anthropometric data as well as confounding variables evaluated. Pediatric overweight and obesity were defined using national reference, age- and gender-specific percentile of body mass index (BMI)

overweight if 85th ≤ BMI < 95th percentile and obesity if ≥ 95th percentile or BMI ≥ 25 kg/m2. The mean intake of total sugar was 51.4 g (11.8% of total energy) and girls had higher sugar intakes than boys (54.3 g for girls and 46.6 g for boys). Total sugar intake was inversely associated with obesity in girls (OR for obesity, 0.53

95% CI, 0.29-0.96

p for trend=0.0301). Among sugar intake from various food sources, sugar intake from milk and fruits was inversely associated with overweight or obesity only in girls (OR for overweight, 0.54

95% CI, 0.34-0.86

p for trend=0.0275 and OR for obesity, 0.47

95% CI, 0.25-0.87

p for trend=0.0225) and sugar from processed foods was not significantly associated with overweight or obesity in both genders. Regarding SSB intake, 10.7% of boys and 7.7% of girls consumed 200 mL or more per day, but energy contribution was 5.8% in boys and 6.0% in girls. SSB consumption was not associated with obesity in girls, while boys had lower odds ratios for obesity (OR for obesity, 0.53

95% CI, 0.27-1.07

p for trend=0.0355). In conclusion, total sugar and SSB intake in Korean children and adolescents remains relatively low and sugar intake from milk and fruits appears to have favorable effects on overweight or obesity in girls.