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.
