Evidence Map on the Relationship Between Exposure to Dietary Sweetness and Body Weight-Related Outcomes in Adults
Dietary recommendations from numerous governmental and health organizations recommend reduced intake of added sugars due to the health risks, including the risk of overweight and obesity. Some recommendations include avoiding dietary sweetness - regardless of the source - based on the hypothesis that reduced exposure to dietary sweetness will reduce the preference and desire for sweet foods/beverages. Given the limited or lack of association between dietary sweetness and food choice, it is unclear whether reducing dietary sweetness would result in beneficial changes in body composition. Before a conclusion on the association between dietary sweetness and body weight can be determined, it is necessary to determine the availability of evidence in the published literature. This evidence map will be conducted to characterize the evidence on the association between dietary sweetness and body weight-related outcomes. The objective of this work is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to conduct a systematic evidence review and identify future research priorities.
Institution: USDA Agricultural Research Service
Principal Investigators: Kelly Higgins, PhD; David Baer, PhD
Award Amount: $8K (Dr. Katherine Appleton, Bournemouth University); other costs covered by USDA’s congressional appropriation
Year Awarded: 2021
View this project on the Center for Open Science’s Open Science Framework here.
This work is supported by the IAFNS Low- and No-Calorie Sweeteners Committee and Carbohydrates Committee.
