Americans consume more sugar when it’s hot outside, study finds : NPR

The demand for sugary drinks increases when it is hot. Here, deliver soda by a hot July day in New York in 2016.

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Spencer Platt / Getty images

They are not secret Americans consume too much sugar, according to Public health guidelines. Now the researchers have found a possible trigger that pushes people to reach sweet things: hot weather.

The researchers followed the grocery revenues of the Americans over several years and found that the consumption of sugar increases in summer – and the peak consumption is largely motivated by consuming more sweet drinks such as sodas, energy drinks and sweet juices.

Sugar consumption has increased slightly with each degree Celsius of warming, depending on the study.

“As temperatures increase, people tend to increase their consumption of added sugar,” explains Pan He, environment scientist at the University of Cardiff and author of the study, which was Posted this week In the journal Nature Climate Change.

The study suggests that, unless American sugar research behavior changes considerably, sugar intake could increase even more in the future, because climate change increases temperatures across the country.

In 2100, the average American could take more than one additional sugar book per year, according to calculations of the Chan duo, a climatologist at the University of Southampton and one of the authors of the study.

The study used data that followed grocery purchases from American families. Scientists could see what families bought and when. They then compared these purchases to the weather recordings of their locations.

Sugar consumption has increased by about 0.7 gram – or about ⅛ of a teaspoon – per day for each degree Celsius warmer than he obtained, on average. Most of this additional sugar, according to the researchers, came from sugary drinks.

“It’s a bit intuitive,” said Chan: people need more liquid when it is hot, just to keep themselves comfortable. If they are already used to drinking sugary drinks, it is easy to just drink more. And the data showed that: those who regularly drink heavy drinks of sugar were more than Five times more likely To increase their consumption in hot weather.

Sugar is not good for health

Public health and nutrition experts have long warned of the risks of increasing sugar consumption.

Sugar drinks have a particular concern, explains Lindsey Smith Taillie, nutrition scientist at the University of North Carolina. Such drinks are easy to drink but do not give a feeling of satiety or fullness, which would otherwise encourage people to stop eating or drinking.

“So drinking sugar is a very quick and easy way to overconsom sugar, in particular, and consume too much,” says Smith Taillie.

Consumption too much sugar has been linked not only to dental problems, such as cavities, but also the higher risks of diabetes, heart disease and high blood pressure – and even Neurological problems And changes in the intestinal microbiome, which regulates digestion, explains Laura Lara-Castor, epidemiologist at the Institute of metrics and health assessment at the University of Washington. And overall, she said: “It has been demonstrated in many studies that sugary drinks continue to be the only element that is the main contributor.”

In hot weather, people must consume more liquids because they sweat more, says Lara-Castor. And the type of liquid they choose can affect their overall health: whether they have clean and safe drinking water or turn to sugary drinks, preferably, marketing or necessity. Sugar intake is affected by culture and social norms, she says. But it is also affected by public policies, such as sodas taxes or clean water regulations and accessibility.

Public health policy should give priority to ease and free to choose water instead of sugary drinks, says Lara-Castor.

“What should we do to make sure that [sugar beverages] be replaced by water? “She asks.” How can we promote accessibility to clean and secure water in different contexts? “”

A warmer future means more sugar consumption?

Americans could consume even more sugar because climate change causes higher temperatures, the study revealed. Current estimates suggest that the planet is on the right track to warm 2.7 degrees Celsius in 2100.

If sugar consumption increases at the same pace as the researchers have identified in the new study, the Americans would take approximately one book in addition to sugar each year.

Multiplied by the current population of the United States, it would be the equivalent of more than 4 billion coke cans.

That, says Chan, is “a fairly surprising number”.

Edited by Rachel Waldholz