Description
Obesity is currently one of the most significant public health issues globally and public health initiatives for tackling it recommend cross-sectoral, multi-stakeholder approaches. (1) Key characteristics of these approaches include the promotion of healthier dietary practices and increased physical activity, and one dietary practice that has gained considerable attention in recent years is free sugars consumption. Recent recommendations state that intake of free sugars should be limited to 5-10% of total energy intake. (2,3) Average intake of free sugars currently exceeds these recommendations and therefore several strategies have been proposed to achieve recommended intakes including the promotion of healthier choices, portion size control and product reformulation. (4)Low-calorie sweeteners (LCS), which impart a sweet flavour yet are chemically diverse, contain less energy than nutritive sweeteners such as sucrose. Therefore, in theory, by providing a desired sweet taste while reducing the energy density of the diet, they can potentially contribute to achieving important obesity-related public health goals. Indeed, comprehensive meta-analyses (5,6) of experimental studies suggest that LCS can have a beneficial effect on weight status when used in place of free sugars; however, meta-analyses (5,6) of cohort studies produce findings that are more mixed leading to ongoing debate around the merits of using LCS in this context. Potential factors that may explain contrasting findings include reverse causality or the presence of confounding factors. However, a potentially important factor may be inadequate assessment of LCS intake. Recent evidence suggests differential effects of specific LCS in relation to body weight (7) and therefore, alternative approaches, such as a biomarker approach, (8) that generate more objective and specific LCS-intake data, may help address this important limitation and enhance research in the area.
This presentation will critically review the existing evidence relating to LCS use in the context of obesity and will discuss future research directions that will potentially address this important question.
1. WHO (2015) Obesity and Overweight, Fact sheet No. 311.
2. WHO (2015) Sugar intakes for adults and children.
3. Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (2015) Carbohydrates and health.
4. Public Health England (2017) Sugar Reduction: Achieving the 20%.
5. Miller PE & Perez V (2014) Am J Clin Nutr 100(3): 765-777.
6. Rogers P et al (2016) Int J Obes 40(3): 381-394.
7. Higgins KA & Mattes RD (2019) Am J Clin Nutr 109: 1288-1301.
8. Logue C et al (2017) J Agric Food Chem 65(22): 4516-4525.
| Period | 15 Oct 2019 → 19 Oct 2019 |
|---|---|
| Event title | 13th FENS European Nutrition Conference |
| Event type | Conference |
| Location | Dublin, IrelandShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |