Background/objectives: Numerous researches have studied the association between sugar intake and obesity of children in many countries. This study was undertaken to investigate the association between beverage intake and obesity of children by reviewing a database for total sugar contents established in all foods and presented in a nutrition survey by the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES).
Subjects/methods: Data of 1,520 children aged 6-11 years in the 6th KNHANES (2013-2015) were analyzed for this study. A database for total sugar intake comprises the total sugar contents of all foods included in the results of a nutrition survey using the 24-hour recall method of 6th KNHANES. Beverages were categorized into carbonated beverages, fruit & vegetable drinks, other drinks, tea, and coffee.
Results: The average daily beverage intake of all children was 131.75 g/day, and the average daily total sugar intake in beverages was 13.76 g/day. Carbonated beverages had the highest intake rate (58.85 g/day) and also ranked highest for sugar intake (6.36 g/day). After adjusting for confounding variables, the odds ratio for obesity in children with beverage intake of ≥ 200 mL/day significantly increased by 1.83 times (95% CI, 1.11-3.00) as compared to children with beverage intake of < 200 mL/day. Also, a significant increase was observed in the odds ratio for obesity in total children (2.41 times; 95% CI, 1.35-4.33) and boys (3.15 times; 95% CI, 1.53-6.49) with carbonated beverage intake of ≥ 200 mL/day when compared with children who consumed < 200 mL/day.
Conclusion: A positive association is observed between beverage intake and obesity in Korean children. In particular, an intake of carbonated beverages has a positive correlation with childhood obesity in boys. This study can therefore be used as scientific evidence for reducing sugar, and for the continuous management and research on beverages.
Keywords: Obesity; beverages; carbonated beverages; child; sugars.