The Association of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages to Children’s Weights Status Is Moderated by Frequency of Adding Sugars and Sleep Hours
Emmanuella Magriplis,
Aikaterini Kanellopoulou,
Venetia Notara,
George Antonogeorgos,
Andrea Paola Rojas-Gil,
Ekaterina N Kornilaki,
Areti Lagiou,
Antonis Zampelas,
Demosthenes B Panagiotakos
Affiliations
Emmanuella Magriplis
Laboratory of Dietetics and Quality of Life, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, 11855 Athens, Greece
Aikaterini Kanellopoulou
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, 17671 Athens, Greece
Venetia Notara
Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Department of Public and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece
George Antonogeorgos
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, 17671 Athens, Greece
Andrea Paola Rojas-Gil
Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Peloponnese, 22100 Tripoli, Greece
Ekaterina N Kornilaki
Department of Preschool Education, School of Education, University of Crete, 74100 Rethimno, Greece
Areti Lagiou
Laboratory of Hygiene and Epidemiology, Department of Public and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of West Attica, 12243 Athens, Greece
Antonis Zampelas
Laboratory of Dietetics and Quality of Life, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Agricultural University of Athens, 11855 Athens, Greece
Demosthenes B Panagiotakos
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, School of Health Science and Education, Harokopio University, 17671 Athens, Greece
Adding extra sugars in milk and the moderating effect of sleep has yet to be investigated, setting the aim of this study. A total of 1361 school-aged children were included, aged 10–12 years old, by randomly sampling schools. Data were interview-obtained by trained personnel using a validated 17-item food frequency questionnaire, with specifics on type of milk and extra sugar additions. Analyses were stratified by average recommended hours of sleep. Predictive probability margins were obtained following necessary adjustments. Mean BMI was significantly lower, the level of SSB intake was higher, and the prevalence of adding sugars to milk four or more times per week was higher in children that slept ≥10 h. Most children (64%) consumed full fat milk, 21% had low fat, and 19.7% chocolate milk, with a significantly larger proportion of overweight or obese children consuming full fat or chocolate milk, also adding extra sugars four or more times per week (4.1% compared to 9.6%, and 12.2% compared to 39.5%, respectively). The predictive probability of being overweight or obese exponentially increased for children consuming >0.5 SSB/day while also adding sugars to their milk frequently, although this effect remained significant only for children sleeping <10 h/day. In conclusion, to accurately address the effect of SSBs on children’s body weight, frequency of any type of sugar addition in milk should be accounted for, as well as average sleep hours that may further moderate the effect.
