title: Soft drink consumption, mainly diet ones, is associated with increased blood pressure in adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this cross-sectional study was to investigate the association between consumption of sugar-sweetened and diet soft drinks with blood pressure (BP) in adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifth graders of 20 public schools were invited to participate in an intervention aimed at behavioral dietary changes and had their BP, weight, and height measured at baseline. Type and frequency of soft drink consumption were assessed using a food and beverages frequency questionnaire, and students were classified as nonconsumers, sugar-sweetened soft drink consumers, and diet soft drink consumers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 574 students invited, 512 were examined and 488 had their BP measured. Of these, 25 (5.1%) reported to be nonconsumers, 419 (85.9%) were sugar-sweetened soft drink consumers, and 44 (9%) were diet soft drink consumers. Mean SBP and DBP were 101.3/57.8, 102.6/58.8, and 106.0/61.3 mmHg for these three groups of consumption, respectively. After adjustment for sex, age, BMI, physical activity, addition of salt to food, and education of the head of the family, SBP was 5.4 mmHg higher in the diet soft drink consumers group compared with the nonconsumers group and 3.3 mmHg higher compared with the sugar-sweetened consumers group (P value of trend = 0.01). Moreover, DBP was also higher among diet soft drink consumers compared with nonconsumers, with a difference of 3.3 mmHg, and compared with sugar-sweetened consumers, with a difference of 2.3 mmHg (P value of trend = 0.04).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results indicate that the consumption of soft drink is associated with increased BP, which is further increased by drinking diet type sodas.
authors.affiliation: aInstitute of Social Medicine, State University of Rio de JaneirobDepartment of Social and Applied Nutrition, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bárbara da S N
authors.initials: Bda S
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: Diana B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.forename: Rosangela A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Rosely
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sichieri
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001835:Body Weight; D002253:Carbonated Beverages / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004032:Diet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D064306:Non-Nutritive Sweeteners; D064427:Nutritive Sweeteners; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools; D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D064306:Non-Nutritive Sweeteners; D064427:Nutritive Sweeteners; D017673:Sodium Chloride, Dietary