title: Is Sugar the new Tobacco? Insights from Laboratory Studies, Consumer Surveys and Public Health.
abstract: In the Americas, mean energy intake from added sugar exceeds recent World Health Organization recommendations for free sugars in the diet. As a leading contributor to this excess, sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) overconsumption represents a risk for the population's health. This article provides an overview of clinical and epidemiological evidence, marketing practices, corporate influence and prevention strategies related to added sugar and SSB. For each aspect of this multidimensional profile, we briefly compare SSB to the case of tobacco pointing to similarities but also major differences. Tobacco control has demonstrated the effectiveness of long term multifaceted prevention strategies in multiple settings supported by strong public policies which may be applied to the consumption of SSB. However, translating these policies to the specific case of SSB is urgently needed, to inform preventive actions, decide which intervention mix will be used, and evaluate the process and impact of the chosen strategy.
authors.affiliation: Evaluation platform on obesity prevention (EPOP), Québec, QC, Canada. yann.lebodo@criucpq.ulaval.ca.|Faculty of Medicine and Nursing, Laval University, Québec, QC, Canada. yann.lebodo@criucpq.ulaval.ca.
authors.forename: Yann
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Le Bodo
authors.affiliation: Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ), Montréal, QC, Canada. marie-claude.paquette@inspq.qc.ca.|Faculty of Medicine, University of Montreal, Montréal, QC, Canada. marie-claude.paquette@inspq.qc.ca.
authors.forename: Marie-Claude
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Paquette
authors.affiliation: Quebec Heart and Lung Institute, Québec, QC, Canada. Maggie.Vallieres@criucpq.ulaval.ca.
authors.forename: Maggie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vallières
authors.affiliation: Quebec Heart and Lung Institute, Québec, QC, Canada. Natalie.Almeras@criucpq.ulaval.ca.|Department of Kinesiology, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Québec, QC, Canada. Natalie.Almeras@criucpq.ulaval.ca.|Quebec Heart and Lung Institute, 2725, chemin Sainte Foy, Québec, QC, G1V 4G5, Canada. Natalie.Almeras@criucpq.ulaval.ca.
authors.forename: Natalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Alméras
mesh_terms: D001628:Beverages; D002908:Chronic Disease; D019422:Dietary Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D002149:Energy Intake; D015438:Health Behavior; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans; D007221:Industry; D040541:Marketing; D011634:Public Health; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D062789:Tobacco Products
chemical_list: D019422:Dietary Sucrose
keywords: Marketing practices; Public health; Sugar; Sugar-sweetened beverages; Taxation; Tobacco