Intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review
REVIEW ARTICLE
Vol. 84, No. 2, 274-288, August 2006
Summary:
1) Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, particularly carbonated soft drinks, is a key contributor to the epidemic of being overweight and obese because of their high sugar content.
2) “Over the past 2 decades, obesity has escalated to epidemic proportions in the United States and many countries around the world.”
3) More than 1 billion adults throughout the world are overweight.
4) In the U S, 129.6 million persons (64% of the population) aged 20–74 years, are overweight, and 30% of those 129.6 million (38.9 million) are obese.
5) The obesity epidemic seen in adults is also seen in children and adolescents.
6) Being overweight and obese are associated with hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, and breast, endometrial, colon and prostate cancers.
7) In the U S there is a concomitant increase in rates of obesity with consumption of carbohydrates, especially in the form of added sugars.
8) The term soft drink includes sodas and other sugar-sweetened beverages such as fruit drinks and lemonade.
9) A 12-oz can of soda provides 40–50 g of sugar in the form of high-fructose corn syrup ((HFCS) 45% glucose and 55% fructose), which is equivalent to 10 teaspoons of table sugar.