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 could be determined, it was necessary to determine the availability of evidence in the published literature. This evidence map was conducted to characterize the evidence on the association between dietary sweetness and body weight-related outcomes. The objective of this work was to determine whether there was 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
Year Awarded: 2021
View a recording of IAFNS' April 20 webinar "Dietary Sweetness & Body Weight: What Do We Know and Where Do We Go From Here?"
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.
