Association between soft drink, fruit juice consumption and obesity in Eastern Europe: cross‐sectional and longitudinal analysis of the HAPIEE study

Abstract

Background Fruit juice and soft drink consumption have been shown to be related to obesity. However, this relationship has not been explored in Eastern Europe. The present study aimed to assess the cross‐sectional and longitudinal relationships between fruit juice, soft drink consumption and body mass index ( BMI ) in Eastern European cohorts. Methods Data from the Health, Alcohol and Psychosocial factors in Eastern Europe population‐based prospective cohort study, based in Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic, were used. Intakes of sugar‐sweetened beverage ( SSB ), artificially‐sweetened beverage ( ASB ) and fruit juice were estimated from a food frequency questionnaire. Participant BMI values were assessed at baseline ( n = 26 634) and after a 3‐year follow‐up (data available only for Russia, n = 5205). Results Soft drink consumption was generally low, particularly in Russia. Compared to never drinkers of SSB , participants who drank SSB every day had a significantly higher BMI in the Czech [β‐coefficient = 0.28; 95% confidence interval ( CI) = 0.02–0.54], Russian (β‐coefficient = 1.38; 95% CI = 0.62–2.15) and Polish (β‐coefficient = 0.83; 95% CI = 0.29–1.37) cohorts. Occasional or daily ASB consumption was also positively associated with BMI in all three cohorts. Results for daily fruit juice intake were inconsistent, with a positive association amongst Russians (β‐coefficient = 0.75; 95% CI = 0.28–1.21) but a negative trend in the Czech Republic (β‐coefficient = −0.42; 95% CI = −0.86 to 0.02). Russians participants who drank SSB or ASB had an increased BMI after follow‐up. Conclusions Our findings support previous studies suggesting that soft drink consumption (including SSB s and ASB s) is positively related to BMI , whereas our results for fruit juice were less consistent. Policies regarding these beverages should be considered in Eastern Europe to lower the risk of obesity.

Empirically derived dietary patterns and obesity among Iranian Adults: Yazd Health Study‐TAMYZ and Shahedieh cohort study

“…The effect of dairy products on the absorption of fat (Jandacek, 1991), appetite, and metabolic activity of the gut microbiota (Marette & Picard‐Deland, 2014; Moreno, Bel‐Serrat, Santaliestra‐Pasías, & Bueno, 2015) is one of the underlying mechanisms affecting weight loss (Green, Stevenson, & Rumbold, 2017). Moreover, the literature showed that the prudent dietary pattern was inversely associated with unhealthy constituents such as snack and fast foods (Heald, 1992), soft drinks (Garduño‐Alanís et al, 2019; Katzmarzyk et al, 2016), and refined grains (Liu et al, 2003) that increased the odds of obesity.…”

“…In Iranian eating habits, pickles, such as traditional appetizers, can be related to higher energy intake (Rouhani, Agh, & Azadbakht, 2018). In addition, soft drinks increase the odds of obesity, since they are full of sugar (Garduño‐Alanís et al, 2019; Katzmarzyk et al, 2016) and produce a lower sense of satiety (Pan & Hu, 2011). Refined grains, as the main portion of grains consumed by Iranian population (Bahadoran, Mirmiran, Delshad, & Azizi, 2014), are less nutrient‐dense, and have lower fiber (McKeown et al, 2010), so they increase odds of obesity (Liu et al, 2003).…”

Obesity and eating behavior from the perspective of twin and genetic research

“…However, in particular, increased availability of highly processed fast food (Zobel et al, 2016) and increased consumption of high-energy soft drinks are suggested to have importantly contributed to the obesity epidemic (Basu et al, 2013). There are convincing epidemiological data showing that soft drink consumption is associated with higher BMI (Garduño-Alanís et al, 2019) and increased weight gain in both children and adults (Luger et al, 2017;Malik et al, 2013). Physiologically, the association between soft-drink consumption and increased energy intake is expected, since high-energy drinks have only a weak satiety response (Maersk et al, 2012).…”

Industry strategies in the parliamentary process of adopting a sugar-sweetened beverage tax in South Africa: a systematic mapping

“…The link between sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and obesity and the broader impact of SSBs on health have been well-documented [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]. Taxes on SSBs are increasingly being recognised as an effective measure to reduce obesity and prevent non-communicable diseases (NCDs) [11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”