Trends in Sugar from Packaged Foods and Beverages Purchased by U.S. Households between 2002 and 2020

Citation

Vatavuk-Serrati, Gabriela; Frank, Sarah M.; Ng, Shu Wen; & Taillie, Lindsey Smith (Online ahead of print). Trends in Sugar from Packaged Foods and Beverages Purchased by U.S. Households between 2002 and 2020. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Excess sugar consumption is a public health concern in the United States. It is unclear how sugar purchases have changed over time, whether there are disparities across subpopulations, or the contribution of various food groups.
OBJECTIVE: To assess trends in sugar from packaged foods and beverages purchased by U.S. households between 2002 and 2020.
DESIGN: This is an open cohort study.
PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: We obtained data from the NielsenIQ U.S. Homescan Consumer Panel, which collects data on household purchases of all consumer packaged goods in 52 metropolitan and 24 non-metropolitan markets across the U.S. We assessed data on food and beverage purchases for 1,163,447 household-years.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcomes are the total sugar in grams purchased per capita per day and percent of calories from sugar, by sociodemographic group.
STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: We used linear regression to estimate trends in total grams of sugar per capita per day, percent of calories from sugar, and percentage of total sugar purchases by food or beverage group. We estimated means for select years and tested for significance compared to 2002 and to the previous timepoint and calculated the overall p-value for the linear trend using time series regression.
RESULTS: Total sugar purchases decreased over the study period, both in absolute terms (-37.2 g/capita/day; 95% CI: -38.7, -35.6) and as a percent of total calories purchased (-5.3 percentage points; 95% CI: -5.5, -5.2). Sugar purchases declined for all sociodemographic groups, but disparities have persisted or widened, particularly among individuals who are Non-Hispanic Black, low-income, and with lower educational attainment. Beverages' contributions to sugar purchases decreased 8.1 percentage points (95% CI: -8.4, -7.8).
CONCLUSION: In the U.S., purchases of sugar declined but disparities by socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity persisted or widened. Policies to further reduce sugar consumption and the burden of diet-related disparities, are needed.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jand.2023.10.011

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

Online ahead of print

Journal Title

Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

Author(s)

Vatavuk-Serrati, Gabriela
Frank, Sarah M.
Ng, Shu Wen
Taillie, Lindsey Smith

Article Type

Regular

Data Set/Study

NielsenIQ U.S. Homescan Consumer Panel

Continent/Country

United States

State

Nonspecific

Race/Ethnicity

White
Black
Hispanic

ORCiD

Ng - 0000-0003-0582-110X
Frank, S. - 0000-0002-6740-3395
Taillie - 0000-0002-4555-2525