Energy balance
In children, consuming non-sugar sweeteners is associated with a smaller increase in body mass index (BMI) z-score compared to consuming sugar, but there is no significant difference in body weight.
For children, switching from sugar-sweetened drinks to those with non-sugar sweeteners may help prevent a faster rise in BMI z-score compared to drinking sugary drinks. However, this does not necessarily translate to a difference in actual body weight. It is a modest benefit in a specific metric.
In children, a smaller increase in body mass index z score was observed with NSS intake compared with sugar intake (−0.15, −0.17 to −0.12; two, n=528, moderate certainty of evidence), but no significant differences were observed in body weight (−0.60 kg, −1.33 to 0.14; two, n=467, low certainty of evidence)
Why this rating
Moderate certainty for BMI z-score, low for body weight.
Source
Association between intake of non-sugar sweeteners and health outcomes: systematic review and meta-analyses of randomised and non-randomised controlled trials and observational studies
Ingrid Toews et al. · BMJ · 2019
DOI 10.1136/bmj.k4718
More from this paper
- In overweight or obese adults, consuming non-sugar sweeteners (NSS) leads to a small but statistically significant reduction in body weight compared to consuming sugar or placebo, whereas no significant weight change occurs in normal-weight adults.Limited
- There is no compelling evidence that non-sugar sweeteners provide important health benefits for weight loss in adults or children who are actively trying to lose weight, nor do they significantly improve glycaemic control or other major health outcomes compared to sugar.Limited
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