1. Associations between attitudes towards and reported intakes of sugars, low/no-calorie sweeteners, and sweet-tasting foods in a UK sample.
- Author
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Tang CS, Mars M, James J, and Appleton KM
- Subjects
- Adult, Humans, Energy Intake, Taste, United Kingdom, Sweetening Agents, Sugars
- Abstract
Public health initiatives are currently aiming to lower free sugar intakes for health benefits, but attitudes towards sugars, their alternatives such as low/no-calorie sweeteners (LNCS), and towards sweet-tasting foods may be hampering efforts. This work investigated associations between attitudes towards and the reported intakes of sugars, LNCS and sweet-tasting foods, and identified latent attitude profiles in subpopulations of adults in the United Kingdom. A total of 581 adults completed a questionnaire assessing their usual intake of sugars, LNCS and sweet-tasting foods, attitudes towards these foods and various demographic characteristics. Six principal components explained 39.1% of the variance in the attitude responses, named: 'Personal Impact', 'Personal Management', 'Apathy', 'Negativity', 'Perceived Understanding' and 'Perceived Nonautonomy'. Personal Impact was negatively associated with reported consumption of sugar-food and sweet-tasting food groups more frequently (smallest β = -0.24, p < .01). Personal Management was positively associated with reporting adding sugar and consuming sugar-food and sweet-tasting food groups more frequently (smallest β = 0.14, p < .01). Three latent classes of participants with distinct patterns of attitudes were identified, labelled: 'Feeling Ill-equipped' (n = 52), 'Actively Engaged' (n = 162) or 'Unopinionated' (n = 367). Individuals who were classed as Actively Engaged reported adding LNCS more frequently than those classed as Feeling Ill-equipped (t(212) = -2.14, p<.01), who reported consuming sweet-tasting food groups more frequently than those classed as Unopinionated (t(417) = 2.65, p < .01). These findings suggest the need for personalised approaches within public health initiatives, to reduce free sugar intakes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest C.S.T. and J.J. declare that they have no competing interests. M.M. has received research funding from Royal Cosun (sugar beet refinery), Sensus (inulin producer) and a consortium of the American Beverage Association, Arla Foods amba, Cargill R&D Centre Europe BVBA, DSM-Firmenich SA, International Sweeteners Association, SinoSweet Co., Ltd, Cosun Nutrition Center and Unilever Foods Innovation Centre Wageningen, and has received expenses from ILSI Europe. K.M.A. has received research funding from Unilever R&D Vlaardingen, NL, a consortium of the American Beverage Association, Arla Foods, Cargill R&D Centre Europe BVBA, DSM-Firmenich SA, International Sweeteners Association, SinoSweet Co., Ltd, Cosun Nutrition Center and Unilever Foods Innovation Centre Wageningen, ILSI-North America, US, the International Sweeteners Association, BE and The Coca Cola Company, US; K.M.A. has received speaker's expenses from the International Sweeteners Association, BE; PepsiCo; ILSI-North America; and EatWell Global., (Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)
- Published
- 2024
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