A Cohort Analysis between Artificially Sweetened Beverages’ consumption and Weight Gain Risk among UK Children: A prospective Study

Abstract

Objective: Background & Goals: The modern lifestyle raises serious concerns about the quality and variety of food available, and it has been suggested that increased intake of sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages may be a contributing cause to obesity. The goal of this study was to look into the contentious claim that children in the UK who consume artificially sweetened drinks (ASB) had higher BMIs.

Methodology: Data were gathered from the Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), and secondary analysis was carried out, including bivariate analysis on 12,871 kids and multinomial regression for obesity on 8,838 kids. The consumption of ASBs was recorded as exposure, and overweight or obesity was chosen as the outcome variable. Children who were already overweight or obese at the beginning of data collection were not included in the regression analysis. This group of children was followed up prospectively for 5 years, ending with the MCS wave.

Results: Children who consumed ASB more than once a day had a 39% greater risk of being overweight compared to non-consumers (RRR=1.45; CI: 1.16-1.80), and an almost 4 times higher risk of being obese compared to children who did not drink ASB more than once per day (RRR=3.96; CI: 1.50-10.47).

Conclusion: This study concluded that there is significant relationship in ASB consumption and risk of getting overweight/obese when observed prospectively.