Adherence
In children, increasing intake of sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a significantly increased risk of being overweight or obese, although intervention trials to reduce sugar intake often fail to show weight loss due to poor compliance.
For children, the strongest evidence for preventing obesity is limiting sugar-sweetened beverages. While simply telling children to cut back on sugar often fails due to poor compliance, ensuring they do not have regular access to sugary drinks significantly lowers their risk of becoming overweight (1.55x higher risk for high consumers).
In relation to intakes of sugar sweetened beverages after one year follow-up in prospective studies, the odds ratio for being overweight or obese increased was 1.55 (1.32 to 1.82) among groups with the highest intake compared with those with the lowest intake.
Why this rating
Strong observational data (cohort studies), but RCTs in children showed poor compliance and no significant weight change.
Source
Dietary sugars and body weight: systematic review and meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials and cohort studies
Lisa Te Morenga et al. · BMJ · 2012
DOI 10.1136/bmj.e7492
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