Beverage intake by Canadian children and its relationship to overweight and obesity

Intake of sweetened beverages in North America has risen in past decades. Concurrently, the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children has increased. To our knowledge, there has been no examination of the relationship between children’s beverage intake and body mass index (BMI) with nationally representative Canadian data. The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between beverage patterns and BMI in Canadian children. Data from the Canadian Community Health Survey 2.2 (2004) included: dietary information, collected via 24-hour recall, and demographics, socio-economic status, physical activity, and food security, collected by interview, and measured anthropometrics. In this study, subjects aged 2 to 18 years (n=10,038) were included if they had complete anthropometric, dietary and socio-demographic information. The following groups were created: 2 to 5 years (both sexes), 6 to 11 years female, 6 to 11 years male, 12 to 18 years female, 12 to 18 years male. Beverage data categorized and grouped into four categories: sugar-sweetened, nutrient-based, alcoholic, and non-caloric. Descriptive analysis was completed for intake of beverages, energy, vitamin C, and calcium. Cluster analysis identified beverage patterns by age-sex groups and allowed comparisons across clusters. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was completed. Results were weighted and bootstrapped to obtain population-level estimates and account for the complex survey design. Children who drank mostly sweetened beverages consumed 16-18% of total daily energy from such drinks. Across age groups, older boys and girls drank more sweetened beverages than preceding groups (