Abstract
BackgroundThe increase in prevalence of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and abnormal blood lipid levels has raised the question of a possible relationship between these conditions and the consumption of sugar.ObjectivesThis study investigated the sugar consumption of financially-restricted Black women in Mangaung, South Africa.MethodFive hundred women were selected randomly and divided into younger (25–34 years) and older (35–44 years) groups. Dietary intake, sociodemographic status, anthropometry and biochemical data were obtained. Total sugar (TS) and added sugar (AS) consumption were compared between older and younger women as well as sociodemographic, anthropometric and biochemical categories.ResultsAS intake contributed 12% and 13% of total energy intake in younger and older women, respectively. AS consumption was higher in younger women living in brick houses and those who possessed a microwave oven. In older women, it was higher in husband-headed households. Underweight women with the lowest body mass index had higher sugar consumption than overweight and/or obese women. Women with a lower body fat percentage had a higher AS consumption than women with a high body fat percentage. Sugar consumption was significantly lower in younger women with elevated serum lymphocyte counts. TS and AS consumption was higher in younger women with elevated serum glucose levels. Older women with elevated serum insulin had a significantly higher TS consumption compared to those with normal insulin concentrations.ConclusionThe amounts of TS and AS consumed by women in this observational study were unlikely to contribute to overweight and/or obesity.
Highlights
Remarkable changes in the food supply system, steered by modern technology, have been paving the way to an adjustment in the food consumption patterns of numerous populations.[1]
When macronutrient intake was expressed as a percentage of total energy (TE) intake, the distribution was very similar in both age groups, with carbohydrates contributing between 51% and 53%, protein 12% and fat between 31% and 32%
The median energy intake of all women was high, macronutrient distribution fell within the recommended limits, except for fat which was higher than the recommended maximum intake of 30% of TE
Summary
Remarkable changes in the food supply system, steered by modern technology, have been paving the way to an adjustment in the food consumption patterns of numerous populations.[1]. In Western countries,[5,15] AS consumption exceeds the recommended guidelines In this regard, the significant increase in the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages overloaded with high-fructose corn syrups,[16,17,18] which are added to several other manufactured products, has come under scrutiny.[18,19] sucrose and not high-fructose corn syrup is used to sweeten beverages and other foods in South Africa, both sugar and high-fructose corn syrup are more or less equal mixes of fructose and glucose molecules (covalently bonded into a disaccharide in the case of sucrose and a mix of free fructose and glucose in the case of highfructose corn syrup), so that metabolically there should be no difference in their effect on the body. The increase in prevalence of coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and abnormal blood lipid levels has raised the question of a possible relationship between these conditions and the consumption of sugar
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