1. Sugar Consumption Among Adolescents through Beverage Intake
Emily Cea
Introduction In the United States today, one third of children and adolescents are overweight or obese. Total sugar consumption has increased over the past years. An estimated 84% of teens are now consuming sugar through sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB’s) each day.
Objective To test a group of adolescents in a small suburban high school in the northeast region of the United States, and assessed the following:
* How does sugar consumption through beverage intake compare to national averages?
* What are the differences between grades, ethnicities, genders, and where the beverages were consumed?
* Do BMI values relate to MS?  Key Terms Metabolic Syndrome (MS): A group of risk factors which increase the risk for coronary artery disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. Body Mass Index (BMI): An index for relating a person's body weight to their height. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES): A collection of data pertaining to the nutritional status of a human population within a given area.
 Sugar-Sweetened-Beverage (SSB): A drink with added sweeteners to enhance flavor. Possible sweeteners include the following: high-fructose corn syrup, brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fruit juice concentrates, glucose, honey, invert sugar, molasses, sucrose, syrup or cane sugar.
Discussion/Conclusion What this study suggests:
* The students at this high school are consuming less sugar and calories through beverages than national averages.
* BMI results at this high school suggest lower obesity rates than National averages. * Since most of this sugar is being consumed at home, programs to educate parents could help lower the rates of SSB consumption. Further Studies
The income level of each participant could be further examined to see if they are drinking cheap, sugar filled beverages due to financial issues.
By looking at ones education level regarding the health risks associated with drinking SSB’s, we can then conclude that people are drinking these beverages because of a lack of knowledge about some of their effects.
Obtaining a larger sample size will help make the data more credible and also show a wider variety of opinions.
By analyzing different regions of the United States, we will be able to see if one part of the country is more or less health conscious than another.
References Wang, Y. Claire, et al. "Impact of Change in Sweetened Caloric Beverage Consumption on Energy Intake Among Children and Adolescents." Arch Pediatrics (2009): PDF file. Vos, Miriam B., et al. "Dietary Fructose Consumption Among US Children and Adults: The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey." The Medscape Journal of Medicine 10.7 (2008): Web. 31 Sept   Wang, Y. Claire, Sara N. Bleich, and Steven L. Gortmaker. "Increasing Caloric Contribution From Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and 100% Fruit Juices Among US Children and Adolescents, " The Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (2008): e1604-e1614. Web. 31 Oct
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Box Plot: Data Showing All Female BMI Results
Box Plot: Data Showing All Male BMI Results
Methodology * Students kept a log of their daily beverage intake for a period of three weeks * Data on BMI and MS were acquired by the school nurse using an anonymous coding system to preserve confidentiality. Demographics:
Results
31.0% of female participants were overweight. One female student was obese.
12% of male participants were overweight. One male student was obese.
Department of Nutrition and Food Science, San Jose State University, April 2008.
Results of two National Surveys
Fig. 1 Students at this high school are consuming a bit less sugar per day than adolescents are consuming on a National level according to Vos, Students in this high school are consuming less calories from beverage consumption than the National average of adolescent consumption (Wang, 2008).
Fig. 2 Male, Hispanic and tenth grade participants were seen to consume the most sugar per day. Females, Asian and eleventh grade participants were seen to consume the least amount of sugar per day. The P-values were calculated based on the two-tailed t-test. In this sample the p-values are insignificant due the small sample size.
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