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Review
. 2018 Feb 20:5:6.
doi: 10.1186/s40608-017-0178-9. eCollection 2018.

The negative impact of sugar-sweetened beverages on children's health: an update of the literature

Sara N Bleich  1 , Kelsey A Vercammen  2
Affiliations
Review

The negative impact of sugar-sweetened beverages on children's health: an update of the literature

Sara N Bleich et al. BMC Obes. .

Abstract

While sugar sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption has declined in the last 15 years, consumption of SSBs is still high among children and adolescents. This research synthesis updates a prior review on this topic and examines the evidence regarding the various health impacts of SSBs on children's health (overweight/obesity, insulin resistance, dental caries, and caffeine-related effects). We searched PubMed, CAB Abstracts and PAIS International to identify cross-sectional, longitudinal and intervention studies examining the health impacts of SSBs in children published after January 1, 2007. We also searched reference lists of relevant articles. Overall, most studies found consistent evidence for the negative impact of SSBs on children's health, with the strongest support for overweight/obesity risk and dental caries, and emerging evidence for insulin resistance and caffeine-related effects. The majority of evidence was cross-sectional highlighting the need for more longitudinal and intervention studies to address this research question. There is substantial evidence that SSBs increase the risk of overweight/obesity and dental caries and developing evidence for the negative impact of SSBs on insulin resistance and caffeine-related effects. The vast majority of literature supports the idea that a reduction in SSB consumption would improve children's health.

Keywords: Children’s health; Sugar-sweetened beverages.

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Conflict of interest statement

Not applicableNot applicableThe authors declare that they have no competing interests.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

References

    1. US Department of Health and Human Services USDoA. 2015–2020 Dietary guidelines for Americans. 8th ed.. Washington (DC): USDA. 2015.
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