A Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intervention's Effect on Non-Nutritive Sweetener Consumers and Consumption Patterns

Abstract

The overconsumption of added sugars leads to negative effects on health such as an increased risk for obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. With approximately 50% of added sugars in the American diet being attributed to sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) intake, non-nutritive sweeteners (NNS) are recommended as potential replacements. The purpose of this secondary analysis of Talking Health, a 6-month SSB reduction intervention, was to explore 1) changes in NNS consumption patterns between SIPsmartER (n=101) and MoveMore (n=97) interventions, and 2) differences in demographics between three groups of various SSB-NNS consumption change patterns (Group 1: decreased SSB, increased NNS; Group 2: decreased SSB, no change in NNS; Group 3: increased SSB, regardless of NNS). Results showed that the SIPsmartER intervention significantly created more new NNS users than MoveMore after the 6 month intervention. There were significant between group over time differences for intake of aspartame, sucralose, and total NNS, with intake increasing for SIPsmartER participants as compared to MoveMore. However, when exploring demographics between the three SSB-NNS consumption change groups, no differences were found between those who successfully decreased SSB while increasing NNS and the other groups. While diet beverages were the most commonly consumed dietary source of NNS across groups over time, other sources such as tabletop sweeteners, yogurt, and meal replacement products contributed to total NNS intake. Future research is needed to identify those who would benefit most from using NNS as a tool to decrease SSB intake. This will help inform future interventions and provide appropriate strategies to decrease added sugars intake.