The relationships among artificial sweetener consumption, body weight and caloric intake

The relationships among artificial sweetener consumption, body weight, and energy intake were examined using a rat model and a survey of college students. The rats were divided into four treatment groups and one control group (n=10 per group). Group 1 was provided with a 10% sucrose solution; group 2, a 50% sucrose solution; group 3, a 0.05% aspartame solution; and group 4, a 0.25% aspartame solution. All groups were provided with rat chow and water ad libitum. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Duncan's multiple range test were used to evaluate the data from the rat study. No differences existed among the groups for weight gain or total energy intake. Differences did exist among the groups for solution and food intake with the two groups given sucrose consuming the greatest amount of sweetened solution and the least amount of food. In the survey of college students, the human subjects' gender, perception of their weight, weight status, dieting status, weight consciousness, weight change over a one year period, and total caloric intake/ total energy expenditure were examined in relation to their consumption of diet soda and packets of table top artificial sweeteners.