(P17-039-23) Global, Regional, and National Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages in Children and Adolescents Between 1990 and 2018: New Findings From the Global Dietary Database

Objectives: Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are a priority health concern among youth given their relationship with obesity. National estimates and trends of intake for young populations are not available, nor variation by education and urbanicity. We aimed to quantify SSB intakes among youth (3-19 years) in 1990, 2005, and 2018 globally, regionally, and nationally across 185 countries, stratified subnationally by age, sex, education, and rural/urban residence.

Methods: A total of 451 individual-level dietary surveys (94·2% nationally or sub-nationally representative) globally between 1990 and 2018 were identified, obtained, and standardized, representing 87·1% of the world’s population. Bayesian hierarchical models were used to estimate SSB intakes across 185 countries, accounting for differences in survey methods, representativeness, time trends, and input and modelling uncertainty, with five-fold cross-validation.

Results: In 2018, the mean global SSBs intake among youth was 3.6 (8oz) servings/week (s/wk) (range 1.3 s/wk in South Asia to 9.1 s/wk in Latin America/Caribbean (LAC); 56 countries (10·4% of the youth world’s population) had mean intakes of at least 7 s/wk. SSB intakes tended to be higher among males, older ages, those more educated, and in urban areas, with differences by world region. Globally, SSB intakes increased from 1990 to 2018 by +0.68 s/wk (+22.9%), with the largest regional increase in Sub-Saharan Africa (+2·17 s/wk; +106.1%). Trends differed by world region. From 1990 to 2005 intakes in LAC dropped (-1.20 s/wk; -12.7%), then raised from 2005 to 2018 (+0.85 s/wk; +10.3%). In High-Income Countries, intakes increased (+1.48 s/wk; +29.1%) from 1990 to 2005, then dropped (-1.59 s/wk; -24.1%) from 2005 to 2018. Intakes in other regions showed a slight but steady increase in both time periods. Among the 25 most populous countries Uganda, Myanmar, and Tanzania had the largest overall increases, and Brazil had the largest decrease.

Conclusions: Our findings provide novel evidence on national and subnational SSB intakes, trends over time, and related nutritional inequities among youth, helping inform policies and approaches to reduce SSB intake among youth worldwide.

Funding Sources: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the American Heart Association, and Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología.