Table 2.
Prevalence of non-nutritive sweeteners consumption by dietary source among low-medium income pre-schoolers from the Food and Environment Chilean Cohort, by sociodemographic and anthropometric characteristics
| Prevalence of non-nutritive sweeteners consumption, n (%) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics | From at least one source of NNS | From foods and beverages only | From foods, beverages and table-top sweeteners | Did not report NNS consumption |
| Total sample (n = 959) | 651 (67.9) | 532 (55.5) | 119 (12.4) | 308 (32.1) |
| Sex | ||||
| Female (n = 498) | 324 (49.8) | 259 (48.7) | 65 (54.6) | 174 (56.5) |
| Male (n = 461) | 327 (50.2) | 273 (51.3)* | 54 (45.4) | 134 (43.5) |
| Age, years | ||||
| < 4.6 (n = 481) | 331 (50.8) | 275 (51.7) | 56 (47.1) | 150 (48.7) |
| > 4.6 (n = 478) | 320 (49.2) | 257 (48.3) | 63 (52.9) | 158 (51.3) |
| Level of maternal education | ||||
| Low (< 12 years of study) (n = 171) | 107 (16.4) | 93 (17.5) | 14 (11.8) | 64 (20.8) |
| Medium (12 years of study) (n = 397) | 258 (39.6) | 209 (39.3) | 49 (41.2) | 139 (45.1) |
| High (12 years of study) (n = 391) | 286 (44.0)* | 230 (43.2)* | 56 (47.0)* | 105 (34.1) |
| Child weight statusa | ||||
| Normal weight (n = 508) (−2SD < BMI-for age z-score < +1SD) | 335 (51.5) | 267 (50.2) | 68 (57.1) | 173 (56.2) |
| Overweight (n = 276) (+1SD < BMI-for-age z-score < +2SD) | 191 (29.3) | 172 (32.3) | 19 (16.0) | 85 (27.6) |
| Obese (n = 175) (+1SD < BMI-for-age z-score < +2SD) | 125 (19.2) | 93 (17.5) | 32 (26.9)** | 50 (16.2) |
| Child abdominal obesitybc | ||||
| Absence (n = 865) | 582 (89.5) | 482 (90.8) | 100 (84.0) | 283 (92.2) |
| Presence (n = 92) | 68 (10.5) | 49 (9.2) | 19 (16.0)* | 24 (7.8) |
| Maternal weight statusde | ||||
| Non obese (BMI < 30 kg/m2) (n = 593) | 412 (66.2) | 333 (65.7) | 79 (68.7) | 181 (60.9) |
| Obese (BMI > 30 kg/m2) (n = 326) | 210 (33.8) | 174 (34.3) | 36 (31.3) | 116 (39.1) |
| Maternal abdominal obesityef | ||||
| Absence (n = 410) | 287 (46.1) | 228 (45.0) | 59 (51.3) | 123 (41.4) |
| Presence (n = 509) | 335 (53.9) | 279 (55.0) | 56 (48.7) | 174 (58.6) |
aDefined based on WHO Child Growth Standards 2006 for children under 5-years-old and WHO Growth Reference 2007 for children above 5-years-old [46, 47, 53]
bWaist circumference measures were compared to USA percentiles describe by Fernandez et al. [49] and Cook et al. criteria was used to assess abdominal obesity among children [50]
cData were available for 957 preschool children, two children refused to be measured
dDefined based on WHO cut-off points for Body Mass Index in adults [48]
eData were available for 919 mothers; 38 mothers were pregnant and two refused to be measured
fDefined based on the criteria for clinical identification of metabolic syndrome described by the Adult Treatment Panel III 2001 [51]
* P < 0.05 analysed using Chi2 independence test
** P < 0.01 analysed using Chi2 independence test