Abstract
Background:The global prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is high and is increasing in countries undergoing rapid socio-economic development, including Thailand. Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) intake may contribute to the risk of developing T2DM. However, few studies have assessed this association in Asian populations, and the results have been inconsistent. We aimed to assess that association in a prospective study of Thai adults.Methods:Data were from Thai Cohort Study participants surveyed in 2005, 2009 and 2013. The nation-wide sample included adult cohort members who were free of diabetes in 2005 and who were followed-up in 2013 (n=39 175). We used multivariable logistic regression to assess associations between SSB intake and eight-year T2DM incidence. We used a counterfactual mediation analysis to explore potential mediation of the SSB intake and T2DM-risk relationship.Results:In women (but not men) consuming SSBs once or more per day (versus rarely) was associated with increased T2DM incidence at the 8-year follow-up (odds ratio (OR)=2.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.5–3.9). Obesity in 2009 was found to mediate ~23% of the total association between SSB intake in 2005 and T2DM risk in 2013 (natural indirect effect 1.15, 95% CI (1.02, 1.31).Conclusions:Frequent SSB consumption associated with higher T2DM incidence in women but not men. We found that a moderate proportion of the SSB-T2DM relationship was mediated through body mass index (BMI). Our findings suggest that targeting SSB consumption can help prevent a national rise in the incidence of T2DM.
Highlights
Many low and middle income countries (LMICs) have experienced considerable social and economic development in recent decades inducing a ‘health-risk transition’ characterized by changes in environment, health behaviour and emergence of non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).[1,2]Thailand is one such country that has experienced an increase in T2DM prevalence from 2.3% in1991(ref. 3) to 8.0% in 2015.2Increasing sugar consumption in Thailand may relate to increased T2DM
The aims of this study were to clarify the association between since 2003.6Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption and T2DM risk over an 8-year period and whether they are mediated by body mass index (BMI) in a prospective study of Thai adults, the Thai Cohort Study
The SSB-T2DM associations observed using only the 2009 incidence data (70% of baseline cohort) were similar. In this prospective cohort of Thai adults we found that in women, SSB consumption was associated with increased odds of T2DM and this increased with more frequent consumption
Summary
Many low and middle income countries (LMICs) have experienced considerable social and economic development in recent decades inducing a ‘health-risk transition’ characterized by changes in environment, health behaviour and emergence of non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).[1,2]Thailand is one such country that has experienced an increase in T2DM prevalence from 2.3% in1991(ref. 3) to 8.0% in 2015.2Increasing sugar consumption in Thailand may relate to increased T2DM. Many low and middle income countries (LMICs) have experienced considerable social and economic development in recent decades inducing a ‘health-risk transition’ characterized by changes in environment, health behaviour and emergence of non-communicable diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).[1,2]. Thailand is one such country that has experienced an increase in T2DM prevalence from 2.3% in1991(ref. Our findings suggest that targeting SSB consumption can help prevent a national rise in the incidence of T2DM
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