December 2008: Effects of soft drink consumption on nutrition and health: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Soft drink consumption is very common in the United States today. As a result researchers believe that this increase has caused a decline in diet quality for the U.S. Research shows that in the U.S. high intakes of soft drinks are associated with a higher intake of energy and carbohydrate and lower intake of protein, calcium, vitamin A, vitamin C, and riboflavin among subjects aged 13 to 19. In a similar study by Vartanian, they examined the association between soft drink consumption and nutrition and health outcomes. They found clear associations of soft drink intake with increased energy intake and body weight. Soft drink intake also was associated with lower intakes of milk, calcium, and other nutrients. There has been a gradual increase in the amount of soft drink consumption in Japan due to the westernization of their diet. The Japanese diet consists of staple foods and beverages, mainly rice, fish, vegetables, soybean products, unsweetened green tea and barley tea.

The objective of this study was to investigate the association of soft drink intake with dietary intake among young Japanese women. The 3,931 subjects were 18 to 20 year old Japanese women enrolled in a dietetic course. A young population was chosen because this age group was more vulnerable to poor diet quality than other groups. The data was collected by using a self administered diet history questionnaire and was analyzed using SAS statistical software (version 8.2, 2001). Height and weight were self reported as part of the diet history questionnaire as well. In this study the term soft drink included: regular or nondiet soft drinks, non – 100% fruit juices, sugar sweetened coffee, sugar sweetened black tea, cocoa, lactic acid drinks, and energy drinks.

Although intake of soft drinks was much lower in Japan (approx 4.8 oz) compared to U.S. consumption (approx 22.7 oz) there was still a significant decrease in diet quality. Their research showed that the Japanese women with higher intakes of soft drinks was associated with higher intake of confections, fat and oil, noodles, 100% vegetable and fruit juice, diet soft drinks energy and carbohydrates. It was also associated with lower intake of vegetables fruits, fish and shellfish, rice, eggs, tea, protein, dietary fiber, cholesterol, and most of the micronutrients. The observations were consistent with the hypothesis that increased soft drink consumption resulted in poorer diet quality.




Supporting Article
Vartanian, L., Schwartz, M., & Brownell, K. (2007). Effects of soft drink consumption on nutrition and health: a systematic review and meta-analysis.. American Journal of Public Health, 97(4), 667-675. Retrieved December 5, 2008, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17329656?ordinalpos=21&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum.

JADA Continuing Education Article
Yamada, M., Murakami, K., Sasaki, S., Takahashi, Y., & Okubo, H. (2008). Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Soft Drink Intake Is Associated with Diet Quality, 109(12), 1997-2004. Retrieved December 5, 2008, from http://www.adajournal.org/article/S0002-8223(08)01878-6/abstract.