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Sugar consumption on the rise worldwide

Our diet keeps getting sweeter, due to the popularity of sugary soft drinks and other sweetened beverages, according to a study. In a world where obesity is increasingly the key nutrition-related problem, elimination of the extra calories that come from the food industry adding these caloric sweeteners to our diet is one critical dimension that needs to be added.

Sugar consumption on the rise worldwide

Our diet keeps getting sweeter, due to the popularity of sugary soft drinks and other sweetened beverages, according to a study. In a world where obesity is increasingly the key nutrition-related problem, elimination of the extra calories that come from the food industry adding these caloric sweeteners to our diet is one critical dimension that needs to be added. Researchers from the University of North Carolina, USA studied dietary data from 103 countries in 1962 and 127 in 2000. They also analysed data from three national U.S. surveys conducted from 1977 to 1978, 1989 to 1991 and 1994 to 1998. They report that the average daily consumption of sugar and other calorie-containing sweeteners worldwide jumped 74 calories from 1962 to 2000. The jump in sweet calories was even greater i.e. 83 calories per day from 1977 to 1996. In the US, most of the extra sweet calories (80 percent) came from sugary soft drinks and fruit drinks. The rise in caloric sweetener consumption means that as of 1996, 30 percent of all carbohydrate calories came from sugar and other sweeteners. Of the 83 calorie per day increase, 54 calories came from soft drinks and 13 calories came from sugared fruit drinks.Worldwide, the percentage of total calories that came from sugar, high-fructose corn syrup and other caloric sweeteners in 2000 was 32 percent higher than in 1962. Most of this worldwide change was due to population shift to urban areas. The researchers note that people living in cities have greater access to processed foods that are high in sugar. The results show that sugary calories are replacing calories from high-fibre foods. Food and drinks with added sugar or other caloric sweeteners provide energy but few other nutrients.

This research provides a clear sense of the enormity of the increase in added caloric sweeteners in our diet, much of which is potentially hidden. There is limited research on the role of added sugar in weight gain, but all point towards the key role of soft drinks and fruit drinks in weight gain.

Obesity Research, November, 2003
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