Consumption patterns of sweetened food and drink products in a Catholic Middle Eastern Canadian community

Abstract

Objective: The present study describes the consumption patterns of sweetened food and drink products in a Catholic Middle Eastern Canadian community and examines its associations with physical activity, sedentary behaviours and BMI. Design: A two-stage cross-sectional design was used. In Stage 1 (n 42), 24 h recalls enabled the identification of sweetened products. In Stage 2 (n 192), an FFQ was administered to measure the daily consumption of these products and to collect sociodemographic and behavioural data. Sweetened products were defined as processed culinary ingredients and ultra-processed products for which total sugar content exceeded 20 % of total energy. Setting: Three Catholic Middle Eastern churches located in Montreal, Canada. Subjects: Normoglycaemic men and women (18-60 years old). Results: Twenty-six sweetened products represented an average consumption of 75?4 g total sugars/d or 15?1 % of daily energy intake (n 190, 56 % women). Soft drinks, juices, sweetened coffee, chocolate, cookies, cakes and muffins were the main sources of consumption and mostly consumed between meals. Age (exp (b) 5 0?99; P , 0?01), physical activity (exp (b) 5 1?08; P , 0?01) and recreational computer use (exp (b) 5 1?17; P , 0?01) were independently associated with sweetened product consumption. The association between sweetened product consumption and physical activity was U-shaped. BMI was not significantly associated with sweetened product consumption but all participants regardless of BMI were above the WHO recommendation for free sugars. Conclusions: Being physically active and spending less time using a computer may favour a reduced consumption of sweetened products. Very active individuals may, however, overconsume such products.

<p>Prevalence and socio-behavioral factors associated with sugar-sweetened beverages consumption among 15 years and older persons in South Africa</p>

“…This study found an association between physical inactivity and daily soft drink consumption, and sedentary behavior with sweetened fruit juice consumption. These results are consistent with previous studies 15,19,32. While some previous studies13,15,19 found an association between substance use (smokers) and SSB consumption, this study found a positive association between problem drinking and soft drink consumption and in bivariate analysis a negative association between tobacco use and SSB consumption.…”

Psychological distress mediates the association between daytime sleepiness and consumption of sweetened products: cross-sectional findings in a Catholic Middle-Eastern Canadian community

“…Indeed, consumption of processed products high in dietary sugars is recognised as an important contributor to the development of these diseases 6. As reported elsewhere, the consumption level of total sugars (all foods considered), ∼20% of diet, in this community is now similar to that consumed by the Canadian and Quebec population 7. The average daytime sleepiness score (8.2) and the prevalence of EDS (28%) measured in this report are within the range noted in Western countries 50.…”

“…In a previous report, we observed an inverse (but not a significant) relationship between consumption of sweetened products and BMI in the same community 7. These results, however, must be interpreted not only by taking into account that overweight and obese individuals may have under-reported their weight or under-reported their consumption of sweetened products, but also the cross-sectional design.…”

“…Food consumption was assessed using a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) previously developed and pretested with the study community to measure consumption of 26 different sweet food and drink products 7. This questionnaire was easy to read and to understand, and culturally relevant to the study community.…”

“…Such products include soft drinks, sweetened juices and beverages, candies and chocolates, sugary baked goods, ice creams and other desserts 7. These products share many nutritional characteristics that make them unhealthy: they are energy dense (for solids); they have an excessive content in free sugars and some are also high in fats and saturated fats 8.…”