The Dose Makes the Poison: Sugar and Obesity in the United States – a Review
Two-thirds of the US population is either overweight or obese. Obesity is one of the major drivers of preventable diseases and health care costs. In the US, current estimates for these costs range from $147 to $210 billion per year. Obesity is a multifactorial disease: genetics, lifestyle choices, m...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research
2019-08-01
|
| Series: | Polish Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.journalssystem.com/pjfns/The-Dose-Makes-the-Poison-Sugar-and-Obesity-in-the-United-States-,110735,0,2.html |
| _version_ | 1818179595645485056 |
|---|---|
| author | Samir Faruque Janice Tong Vuk Lacmanovic Christiana Agbonghae Dulce M Minaya Krzysztof Czaja |
| author_facet | Samir Faruque Janice Tong Vuk Lacmanovic Christiana Agbonghae Dulce M Minaya Krzysztof Czaja |
| author_sort | Samir Faruque |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Two-thirds of the US population is either overweight or obese. Obesity is one of the major drivers of preventable diseases and health care costs. In the US, current estimates for these costs range from $147 to $210 billion per year. Obesity is a multifactorial disease: genetics, lifestyle choices, metabolism, and diet. Low-fat diets have been suggested as the key to weight management. However, over the past 30 years, the calories from fat in people’s diets have gone down, but obesity rates keep climbing. Evidence suggests that diets high in added sugar promote the development of obesity. However, the impact of sugar consumption on weight gain and body fat accumulation remains a controversial topic. Therefore, the aim of this review is to provide basic framework information about the prevalence of obesity and sugar consumption in the US over the last five decades. We also review the process by which sugar is converted to fat and stored in the human body. The relationship between sugar consumption and obesity was analyzed using United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Sugar and Sweetener Outlook data, and obesity prevalence was analyzed using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The analysis revealed a reduction in sugar consumption concurrent with a slowing down of the annual rate of increase of obesity. However, although the data show that the sugar consumption trend is going in the right direction (declining), the US population still consumes more than 300% of the recommended daily amount of added sugar. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T21:06:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-2ed564ecba2e4945b9d1e4152136d9c2 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2083-6007 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T21:06:22Z |
| publishDate | 2019-08-01 |
| publisher | Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Polish Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-2ed564ecba2e4945b9d1e4152136d9c22022-12-22T00:50:51ZengInstitute of Animal Reproduction and Food ResearchPolish Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences2083-60072019-08-0169321923310.31883/pjfns/110735110735The Dose Makes the Poison: Sugar and Obesity in the United States – a ReviewSamir Faruque0Janice Tong1Vuk Lacmanovic2Christiana Agbonghae3Dulce M Minaya4Krzysztof Czaja5Department of Veterinary Biosciences and Diagnostic Imaging, The University of Georgia, Athens 30602, GA, United States, United StatesDepartment of Veterinary Biosciences and Diagnostic Imaging, The University of Georgia, Athens 30602, GA, United States, United StatesDepartment of Veterinary Biosciences and Diagnostic Imaging, The University of Georgia, Athens 30602, GA, United States, United StatesDepartment of Veterinary Biosciences and Diagnostic Imaging, The University of Georgia, Athens 30602, GA, United States, United StatesVeterinary Biosciences and Diagnostic Imaging, University of Georgia, United StatesDepartment of Veterinary Biosciences and Diagnostic Imaging, The University of Georgia, Athens 30602, GA, United States, United StatesTwo-thirds of the US population is either overweight or obese. Obesity is one of the major drivers of preventable diseases and health care costs. In the US, current estimates for these costs range from $147 to $210 billion per year. Obesity is a multifactorial disease: genetics, lifestyle choices, metabolism, and diet. Low-fat diets have been suggested as the key to weight management. However, over the past 30 years, the calories from fat in people’s diets have gone down, but obesity rates keep climbing. Evidence suggests that diets high in added sugar promote the development of obesity. However, the impact of sugar consumption on weight gain and body fat accumulation remains a controversial topic. Therefore, the aim of this review is to provide basic framework information about the prevalence of obesity and sugar consumption in the US over the last five decades. We also review the process by which sugar is converted to fat and stored in the human body. The relationship between sugar consumption and obesity was analyzed using United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Sugar and Sweetener Outlook data, and obesity prevalence was analyzed using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The analysis revealed a reduction in sugar consumption concurrent with a slowing down of the annual rate of increase of obesity. However, although the data show that the sugar consumption trend is going in the right direction (declining), the US population still consumes more than 300% of the recommended daily amount of added sugar.http://www.journalssystem.com/pjfns/The-Dose-Makes-the-Poison-Sugar-and-Obesity-in-the-United-States-,110735,0,2.htmlsugarobesitysugar consumptionbmichildhood obesityadult obesity |
| spellingShingle | Samir Faruque Janice Tong Vuk Lacmanovic Christiana Agbonghae Dulce M Minaya Krzysztof Czaja The Dose Makes the Poison: Sugar and Obesity in the United States – a Review Polish Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences sugar obesity sugar consumption bmi childhood obesity adult obesity |
| title | The Dose Makes the Poison: Sugar and Obesity in the United States – a Review |
| title_full | The Dose Makes the Poison: Sugar and Obesity in the United States – a Review |
| title_fullStr | The Dose Makes the Poison: Sugar and Obesity in the United States – a Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Dose Makes the Poison: Sugar and Obesity in the United States – a Review |
| title_short | The Dose Makes the Poison: Sugar and Obesity in the United States – a Review |
| title_sort | dose makes the poison sugar and obesity in the united states a review |
| topic | sugar obesity sugar consumption bmi childhood obesity adult obesity |
| url | http://www.journalssystem.com/pjfns/The-Dose-Makes-the-Poison-Sugar-and-Obesity-in-the-United-States-,110735,0,2.html |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT samirfaruque thedosemakesthepoisonsugarandobesityintheunitedstatesareview AT janicetong thedosemakesthepoisonsugarandobesityintheunitedstatesareview AT vuklacmanovic thedosemakesthepoisonsugarandobesityintheunitedstatesareview AT christianaagbonghae thedosemakesthepoisonsugarandobesityintheunitedstatesareview AT dulcemminaya thedosemakesthepoisonsugarandobesityintheunitedstatesareview AT krzysztofczaja thedosemakesthepoisonsugarandobesityintheunitedstatesareview AT samirfaruque dosemakesthepoisonsugarandobesityintheunitedstatesareview AT janicetong dosemakesthepoisonsugarandobesityintheunitedstatesareview AT vuklacmanovic dosemakesthepoisonsugarandobesityintheunitedstatesareview AT christianaagbonghae dosemakesthepoisonsugarandobesityintheunitedstatesareview AT dulcemminaya dosemakesthepoisonsugarandobesityintheunitedstatesareview AT krzysztofczaja dosemakesthepoisonsugarandobesityintheunitedstatesareview |