Changes in Nonnutritive Sweetener Intake in a Cohort of Preschoolers after the Implementation of Chile’s Law of Food Labelling and Advertising

Citation

Rebolledo, Natalia; Reyes, Marcela; Popkin, Barry M.; Adair, Linda S.; Avery, Christy L; .; Corvalán, Camila; Ng, Shu Wen; & Taillie, Lindsey Smith (2022). Changes in Nonnutritive Sweetener Intake in a Cohort of Preschoolers after the Implementation of Chile’s Law of Food Labelling and Advertising. Pediatric Obesity, 17(7), e12895.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The first phase of Chile's Law of Food Labelling and Advertising showed important declines in the sugar content of packaged foods, but it is unknown whether the law led to an increase in nonnutritive sweetener (NNS) intake, particularly among preschool children.
OBJECTIVES: Estimate the changes in preschoolers' NNS intake after the first phase of the Chilean law.
METHODS: We used 24-h dietary recalls collected in 2016 (pre-law) and 2017 (post-law) from a cohort of preschoolers (n = 875). The primary caretaker was the respondent of the recalls. Information on NNS was obtained from nutrition facts panels collected annually and linked to dietary data. We used logistic regression to estimate the changes in the proportion of preschoolers who consume NNS and two-part models to estimate the changes in mean intake. We determined the percentage of children that surpassed the acceptable daily intake (ADI) of each NNS using the National Cancer Institute method.
RESULTS: The proportion of consumers of at least one NNS increased from 77.9% to 92.0% (p-value < 0.01). The mean intake increased for sucralose, aspartame, acesulfame-K and steviol glycosides (+20.3, +15.1, +6.1 and +3.3 mg/day, respectively). In addition, NNS dietary sources changed for sucralose and steviol glycosides, becoming industrialized juices and dairy beverages more relevant while tabletop NNS became less relevant. None of the children surpassed the ADI.
CONCLUSIONS: NNS intake increased in preschoolers after the first phase of a national policy that promoted sugar reformulation.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ijpo.12895

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2022

Journal Title

Pediatric Obesity

Author(s)

Rebolledo, Natalia
Reyes, Marcela
Popkin, Barry M.
Adair, Linda S.
Avery, Christy L
.
Corvalán, Camila
Ng, Shu Wen
Taillie, Lindsey Smith

Article Type

Regular

Data Set/Study

Food and Environment Chilean Cohort (FECHIC)

Continent/Country

Chile

ORCiD

Rebolledo - 0000-0002-4537-6592
Popkin - 0000-0001-9495-9324
Adair - 0000-0002-3670-8073
Avery - 0000-0002-1044-8162
Ng - 0000-0003-0582-110X
Taillie - 0000-0002-4555-2525