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Doubled Calorie Intake from Beverages Likely Contributes to Adult Obesity |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: It's not just sugary sodas that are adding to the obesity crisis -- it's fruit drinks, alcohol and a combination of other high-calorie beverages, say University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health researchers. Over the past 37 years, the number of calories adults get through beverages has nearly doubled, according to a UNC study published in the November issue of Obesity Research by Kiyah J. Duffey, a doctoral candidate in the department of nutrition, and Barry M. Popkin, Ph.D., professor of nutrition and a fellow at the Carolina Population Center. The study used nationally representative data to quantify both trends and patterns in beverage consumption among 46,576 American adults aged 19 and older. Researchers found that, over these 37 years, total daily intake of calories from beverages increased by 94 percent, providing an average 21 percent of daily energy intake among U.S. adults. Water intake was measured from 1989 to 2002, and during that time, the amount of water consumed stayed roughly the same, but the average adult consumed an additional 21 ounces per day of other beverages, Popkin said. "This has considerable implications for numerous health outcomes, including obesity and diabetes as this is just adding several hundred calories daily to our overall caloric intake," Popkin said. Data analyzed for this study came from the federally funded Nationwide Food Consumption Surveys of 1965 and 1977-1978 and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys of 1989-1994 and 1999-2002. "For each exam year, we calculated total energy intake, percent consuming and calories per consumer for 16 different beverages, and determined total beverage intake (fluid ounces) for each beverage," Duffey said. Alcohol (up 73 calories per day) and fruit juice (up 20 calories per day) had considerable increases in their contribution to daily energy intake as well.
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