title: Relationship between Sugar Intake and Obesity among School-Age Children in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
abstract: In recent years, the prevalence and problem of overweight and obesity in Taiwanese children have increased. There are many reports that the excessive intake of sugar increases the risk of lifestyle-related disease. However, sugar intake in Taiwanese children is not known. In this study, we investigated sugar intake from sugar-sweetened beverages, snacks and desserts among school-age children in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. We also tried to determine the relationship between sugar intake and body mass index (BMI). We contacted all the public elementary schools (10 schools) in a district, Kaohsiung, and obtained permission from 3 schools. The survey subjects were 410 (210 boys, 200 girls) school-age children (7, 10 and 12 y old). A nutrition survey was conducted using 3 non-consecutive days of the 24 h dietary recall method for sugar-sweetened beverages, snacks and desserts. Height and weight were measured. Sugar intakes were not significantly different among the different genders or ages (p>0.05) and average intake of all was 51.6 g/d. Percentages of each sugar in total intake were sucrose 60%, glucose 18%, fructose 16%, and lactose 6%. The intake of glucose and fructose may have come from isomerized sugar. Contributions of sugar-sweetened beverages and snacks (desserts) were 83.5% and 16.5%, respectively. Among the sugar-sweetened beverages the top 3 sources were tea (22%), milk tea (19%) and milk beverages (18%). A relationship between sugar intake and BMI was not observed. In conclusion, sugar intake of the children was higher than the WHO recommendation due to the high intake from beverages; however, sugar was not the cause of the high obesity rate.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Health Science, Fooyin University.
authors.forename: Pei-Ying
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Fang-Yu
authors.initials: FY
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Ting-Chun
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Wen-Lee
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jia-Yau
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Doong
authors.forename: Saiko
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shikanai
authors.forename: Nobuko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sarukura
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
mesh_terms: D001628:Beverages / Q000032:analysis; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D002149:Energy Intake; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D011939:Mental Recall; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D064427:Nutritive Sweeteners / Q000009:adverse effects*; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D064167:Recommended Dietary Allowances; D062410:Snacks; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D064427:Nutritive Sweeteners