Rise in SSB intake among children raises concerns

For the past three decades, intakes of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) among children and adolescents across 185 countries have increased by nearly a quarter, reports a study. This increase matches the rise in obesity prevalence among young people worldwide. 

“Our findings are intended to inform current and future policies to curb SSB intakes, adding to the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development for improving health and wellbeing, reducing inequities, responsible consumption, poverty, and access to clean water,” the researchers said.  

This population-based study used the Global Dietary Database to quantify SSB intakes and trend over time among children and adolescents aged 3 to 19 years in 185 countries between 1990 and 2018. Participants were stratified at subnational level by age, sex, parental education, and residence. 

The mean global SSB intake in 2018 was 3.6 servings/week (standardized serving=248 g or 8 oz), ranging from 1.3 (95 percent uncertainty interval, 1.0−1.9) in South Asia to 9.1 (95 percent uncertainty interval, 8.3−10.1) in Latin America and the Caribbean. [BMJ 2024;386:e079234] 

Specifically, SSB intakes were greater among older versus younger children and adolescents, those living in urban versus rural areas, and those of parents with higher versus lower education. 

Notably, the mean global SSB intakes between 1990 and 2018 rose by 0.68 servings/week (22.9 percent), with sub-Saharan Africa having the largest increases (2.17 servings/week; 106 percent). Of the 185 countries assessed, 56 (30.3 percent) had a mean SSB intake of ≥7 servings/week. This corresponded to 238 million children and adolescents, or 10.4 percent of the global population of young people. 

“SSB intakes showed large heterogeneity among children and adolescents worldwide and by age, parental level of education, and urbanicity,” the researchers said.  

“Policies and approaches at both a national level and a more targeted level are needed to reduce intakes of SSBs among young people worldwide, highlighting the larger intakes across all education levels in urban and rural areas in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the growing problem of SSBs for public health in sub-Saharan Africa,” they added. 

Obesity 

SSB intake among children and adolescents rose by 23 percent from 1990 to 2018, parallel to the increase in prevalence of obesity among this population globally, according to the researchers, who found a positive association between SSB consumption and obesity prevalence among young people in all years. [Lancet 2017;390:2627-2642] 

“This finding needs particular attention given the incremental economic costs associated with overweight and obesity globally, which are projected to increase from about $2.0 trillion in 2020 to $18 trillion by 2060, exceeding 3 percent of the world’s gross domestic product,” they noted. [https://data.worldobesity.org/publications/] 

Chronic diet-related conditions, such as obesity, belong to a global syndemic along with undernutrition, “given their interaction and shared underlying societal drivers.” [Lancet 2019;393:791-846] 

“Tackling drivers of obesity and other diet related diseases among children and adolescents is also critical to be better equipped for potential future pandemics, as cardiometabolic conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension were top drivers of increased risk of hospital admission and death with COVID-19,” the researchers said. [J Am Heart Assoc 2021;10:e019259]