Consumption of sugar-sweetened and artificially-sweetened soft drinks and risk of cancers not related to obesity

Menée en Australie par questionnaire auprès de 35 109 participants (durée de suivi : 19 ans), cette étude analyse l'association entre une consommation de boissons gazeuses sucrées ou édulcorées et le risque de cancers, hormis ceux liés à l'obésité (4 789 cas)

Résumé en anglais

Consumption of sugary drinks increases the risk of obesity. Previously we reported a positive association between sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption and obesity-related cancer but this association was not fully explained by obesity; in contrast, we found no association for consumption of artificially-sweetened soft drinks. Our aim was to determine whether the consumption of sugar-sweetened or artificially-sweetened soft drinks was associated with cancers other than those currently identified as being related to obesity. We used data from the Melbourne Collaborative Cohort Study. Participants completed a 121-item food-frequency questionnaire (FFQ) at baseline including separate questions about the number of times in the past year they had consumed sugar-sweetened and artificially-sweetened soft drinks. Cox regression models were fitted to estimate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the risk of cancers not related to obesity. During 19 years of follow-up, there were 35,109 eligible participants who developed 4,789 cancers not related to obesity. There was no association between frequency of consuming sugar-sweetened soft drinks and the risk of these cancers, but an unexpected positive association was observed for consumption of artificially-sweetened soft drinks. Although, we did not find an association with sugar-sweetened soft drinks, we previously reported a positive association with obesity-related cancers, not fully explained by obesity. These findings leave unresolved the question of whether consumption of sugar-sweetened soft drinks influences cancer risk independently of their influence on body size. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.