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. 2016 Feb;11(1):68-74.
doi: 10.1111/ijpo.12023. Epub 2015 Apr 17.

Early introduction and cumulative consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages during the pre-school period and risk of obesity at 8-14 years of age

A Cantoral  1 , M M Téllez-Rojo  1 , A S Ettinger  2   3 , H Hu  4 , M Hernández-Ávila  1 , K Peterson  3   5
Affiliations

Early introduction and cumulative consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages during the pre-school period and risk of obesity at 8-14 years of age

A Cantoral et al. Pediatr Obes. 2016 Feb.

Abstract

Background: Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) has been associated with risk of obesity, but little evidence exists to evaluate if age of introduction and cumulative SSB consumption increases risk in children.

Objectives: The objective of the study was to estimate the relationship between age of introduction and cumulative SSB consumption with risk of obesity in 227 Mexican children.

Methods: SSB intake was measured every 6 months; age of introduction and cumulative consumption during the pre-school period were calculated. Height, weight, waist circumference, SSB intake and other relevant variables were measured at age 8-14 years and obesity defined using standard criteria.

Results: All participants were introduced to SSB before age 24 months and most (73%) before 12 months. Early SSB introduction (≤12 months) was not significantly associated with increased odds of obesity (odds ratio [OR] = 2.00, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.87, 4.59). However, children in the highest tertile of cumulative SSB consumption, compared with the lowest, had almost three times the odds of general (OR = 2.99, 95% CI: 1.27, 7.00) and abdominal (OR = 2.70, 95% CI: 1.03, 7.03) obesity at age 8-14 years.

Conclusions: High SSB consumption increased the likelihood of obesity in 8-14-year-old children. Our results suggest that SSB intake should be delayed and excessive SSB consumption in pre-school period should be avoided.

Keywords: Children; obesity; pre-school; sugar-sweetened beverages.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. This study was supported by: the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) (P01-ES022844, R01-ES021446, R01-ES005947), Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologıa (CONACyT) 41912-M, and the NIEHS/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Formative Children’s Center for Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research (NIH P20-ES018171/EPA RD#834800). It represents the views of the authors and does not imply endorsement by the NIH or EPA.

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