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This Article Full Text (Publish Ahead of Print[PDF]) All Versions of this Article: 90/6/1489    most recent ajcn.2009.27573v1 Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Google Scholar Articles by Vanselow, M. S Articles by Raatz, S. K PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Vanselow, M. S Articles by Raatz, S. K Agricola Articles by Vanselow, M. S Articles by Raatz, S. K

Adolescent beverage habits and changes in weight over time: findings from Project EAT^1,2,3

¹ From the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health (MSV, MAP, and DN-S), and the Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes, the Department of Medicine (SKR), University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.

² Project EAT was funded by grant R40 MC 00319 from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (Title V, Social Security Act; principal investigator: DN-S), Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services.

³ Address correspondence to MA Pereira, Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, University of Minnesota, 1300 South Second Street, Suite 300, Minneapolis, MN 55454. E-mail: map{at}umn.edu.

ABSTRACT

Background: Obesity in adolescence has been increasing in the past several decades. Beverage habits among adolescents include increased consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and decreased consumption of milk.

Objective: This study aimed to examine the association between beverage consumption and 5-y body weight change in 2294 adolescents.

Design: Project EAT ("Eating Among Teens") is a 5-y longitudinal study of eating patterns among adolescents. Surveys were completed in 1998–1999 (time 1) and in 2003–2004 (time 2). Multivariable linear regression was used to examine the association between beverage consumption at time 2 and change in body mass index from time 1 to time 2, with adjustments for age, socioeconomic status, race, cohort, physical activity, sedentary behavior, coffee, tea, time 1 body mass index, and beverage variables.

Results: In prospective analyses, consumption of beverages was not associated with weight gain, except for consumption of low-calorie soft drinks (positive association, P = 0.002) and white milk (inverse association, P = 0.03), but these associations did not appear to be a monotonic linear dose-response relation. The positive association with low-calorie soft drinks was no longer present after adjustment for dieting and parental weight-related concerns, which suggests that the use of low-calorie soft drinks is a marker for more general dietary behaviors and weight concerns.

Conclusions: We showed no association between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, juice consumption, and adolescent weight gain over a 5-y period. A direct association between diet beverages and weight gain appeared to be explained by dieting practices. Adolescents who consumed little or no white milk gained significantly more weight than their peers who consumed white milk. Future research that examines beverage habits and weight among adolescents should address portion sizes, adolescent maturation, and dieting behaviors.

Received for publication February 3, 2009. Accepted for publication September 16, 2009.