Frequent use of selected sugary products associates with thinness, but not overweight during preadolescence: a cross-sectional study

Convincing evidence suggests that diets laden with added sugar, specifically sugar-sweetened beverages, associate with excess weight in children. The relationships between sugar consumption frequency and BMI remain less well studied. We, therefore, evaluated children's consumption frequency of selected sugary products (n8461; mean age 11 center dot 1 (sd0 center dot 9) years) selected from the Finnish Health in Teens cohort study. Using a sixteen-item FFQ including six sugary products (chocolate/sweets, biscuits/cookies, ice cream, sweet pastry, sugary juice drinks and sugary soft drinks), we calculated a Sweet Treat Index (STI) for the frequency of weekly sugary product consumption and categorised children based on quartiles (Q) into low (Q1, cut-off 10 center dot 5), and as thin, normal and overweight/obese based on the measured BMI. Through multinomial logistic regression analyses, we found that subjects with a high STI exhibited a higher risk of being thin (OR 1 center dot 20, 95 % CI 1 center dot 02, 1 center dot 41) and lower risk of being overweight (OR 0 center dot 79, 95 % CI 0 center dot 67, 0 center dot 92), while subjects with a low STI were at higher risk of being overweight (OR 1 center dot 32, 95 % CI 1 center dot 14, 1 center dot 53). High consumption frequencies of salty snacks, pizza and hamburgers most closely were associated with a high STI. Our findings suggest that consuming sugary products at a high frequency does not associate with being overweight. The relationship between a low consumption frequency and being overweight suggests that overweight children's consumption frequency of sugary products may be controlled, restricted or underreported.