Reprinted from HOP Highlights, Winter 2024

CDC published seven added-sugar related papers in the last twelve months on topics such as the prevalence of and characteristics associated with being a high consumer of added sugars, sweet foods, or sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), and associations between knowledge of health risk and SSBs intake.

Here are key findings from these studies:

Decreasing added sugars intake among the general population by just 14 calories per day, or 57 calories per day among high added sugars consumer would meet the Healthy People 2030 objective (Stowe, AJPM).

30% of adults had high intake (of added sugars) more than 15% of total daily calories) in 2015-18 (Lee, Nutrients).

34% of children and adolescents had high intake of added sugars in 2015-18 (Park, Nutrients).

15% of adults consumed sweet foods two or more times per day and 30% of adults consumed SSBs two or more times per day during the COVID-19 Pandemic in 2021 (Park, Nutrients).

Adolescents who consumed SSBs 1 or more times per week were less likely than those who did not to know about the association between SSB consumption and weight gain, heart disease, and some cancers in 2021. (Park, Nutrients).

57.1% of children aged 1-5 years drank SSBs at least once during the preceding week in 2021 (Hamner, MMWR).

95% of households reported purchasing SSBs at least once in 2015 (Ghazaryan, JAND).