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Significance of sugar intake in young adults: a review

  • Akshatha Shetty ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: October 26, 2021

Abstract

Background

Foodborne diseases non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the main reason of death, accounting for 38 million (68%) of the 56 million premature deaths worldwide in 2012. Lower-middle and middle-income countries accounted for nearly three-quarters of all NCD fatalities (28 million), as well as the bulk of illness and premature death (82%). An excessive consumption of added sugar is source of worry for its link to unhealthy nutrition quality, overweight, and the risk of NCDs among adolescents. A further source of worry is the link among free sugar consumption and tooth cavities in young adults. Dental infections are the most common NCDs worldwide in young adults, and despite significant advances in management and cure in recent decades, issues remain, resulting in pain, anxiety, functional limitations (which include failing school grades and attendance in children), and social severe disability due to missing teeth.

Objectives

The purpose of this report is to give suggestions on how to consume added sugar in order to mitigate the possibility of NCDs in children and young adults, with an emphasis on the care and mitigation of obesity and metabolic syndrome and tooth decay among young adults.

Methods and materials

The Keywords like adolescent, Health, Dental Caries, Obesity, Sugar Intake, Recommendation have been used to evaluate the standard of evidence discovered via current systematic reviews of the scientific literature relating to significance of sugar intake consumption and its effect in young adults.

Results

The relevant data from prospective studies was judged to be of good quality, but data from nationwide population-based studies was judged to be of extremely low quality. Free sweeteners should be used in moderation during one’s life, according to the World Health Organization (strong recommendation 1). WHO advises limiting natural sugar consumption to very little about 10% of total calorie intake among both grownups and children 2 (strong recommendation).

Conclusions

There is a significant association of prevalence of tooth decay, obesity due to sugar consumption at an alarming rate hence regulators as well as curriculum developers can utilize the recommendation reviewed by us to compare current free sugar intake levels in their nations to a benchmark. They may also be used to design ways to reduce free sugar consumption through a wide variety of social health initiatives, if required.


Corresponding author: Akshatha Shetty, Department of Periodontics, AB Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences (ABSMIDS), NITTE (Deemed to be University), Deralakatte, Mangalore- 575018, India, E-mail:

  1. Research funding: None declared.

  2. Author contributions: All authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this manuscript and approved its submission.

  3. Competing interests: Authors state no conflict of interest.

  4. Informed consent: Not Applicable.

  5. Ethical approval: Not Applicable.

References

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Received: 2021-08-31
Accepted: 2021-10-03
Published Online: 2021-10-26

© 2021 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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