NEW YORK, Jan 12 (Reuters Health) -- Americans are consuming excessive
amounts of sugar and other sweeteners, a recent survey reports.
Much of this sugary overload comes from drinking too many soft drinks,
according to the report, published this month in the Journal of the American
Dietetic Association.
Consumption of added sweeteners accounts for about 16% of total calories,
exceeding dietary recommendations to limit intake to 6% to 10%.
Soft drinks are the greatest source of added sweeteners for everyone
except the youngest children and oldest adults, the researchers report. "The
most important source of added sweeteners was regular soft drinks, which
contributed one third of intake of added sweeteners," they note. Other sources
include table sugar, syrups, sweets, sweetened grains such as cereals, and dairy
products such as chocolate milk.
According to government researchers, the findings may help to explain
rising rates of obesity in the US. For example, evidence suggests that the
regular consumption of soft drinks have increased in recent years.
"If... added sweeteners are consumed in addition to more nutritious foods,
the diet may be excessive in energy, thereby promoting obesity," conclude Dr.
Joanne F. Guthrie from the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the
US Food and Drug Administration, and Joan F. Morton of the Department of
Veterans Affairs in Washington, DC.
Another concern is that sweetened foods tend to replace more
nutrient-dense foods. For example, studies have shown that soft drinks displace
calcium-rich milk in the diets of adolescent girls and adult women.
"Low calcium intakes are a public health concern, so this displacement
effect is particularly troubling," the authors write.
According to the study, consumption of added sugars is highest in
adolescence and declines throughout adulthood. Adolescent males consume about
142 grams of added sweeteners and adolescent females about 98 grams a day. Added
sweeteners account for about 20% of total calories for both groups, the study
found. This is about double the limit recommended by experts, who advise that
sweeteners account for no more than 10% of energy intake.
"Given the increase in consumption of soft drinks and the overall high
intakes of added sweeteners by Americans, ongoing monitoring of the impact of
intake of added sweeteners on nutrient intake, energy intake, and body weight is
important," conclude Guthrie and Morton.
The study defines added sugars as "all sugars used as ingredients in
processed and prepared foods," and as "sugars eaten separately or added to foods
at the table," including non-caloric sweeteners such as saccharin and aspartame.
Sugars found naturally in food, such as fructose in fruit or lactose in
milk were not included.
The study findings are based on an analysis of data compiled by the US
Department of Agriculture between 1994-1996. The researchers used a survey of
the dietary habits of more than 15,010 Americans between the ages of 2 and 65.
