SSB in the news again

More than one person has alerted me to the report on sugar sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption that was released this week.  It has been reported in and on the news.  If I did not mention it here, my readers might wonder what had happened to me.  So I took a moment to gather a few things together for sharing.  Please understand that this information is from self report - not observations (meaning that the consumption is likely to be higher not lower.  The information is also least three years old.  It would be interesting to see if these numbers change as more states work on limiting these beverages through vending machine exclusion and taxes.

This information comes from a recent review of NHANES data undertaken by researchers from the National Center for Health Statistics and the CDC.  The authors of this particular report and its citation are as follows: 
Ogden CL, Kit BK, Carroll MD, Park S. Consumption of sugar drinks in the United States, 2005–2008. NCHS data brief, no 71. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2011.
The key findings, copied from the web page, are below.  I strongly encourage you to click on this link to see the full BRIEF.  It is not hard to understand and it is illuminating.  The information is a generalization and it includes population averages.  In these averages it would seem that almost everyone drinks at least one sugar sweetened beverage a day (actually it is half of all Americans), most drink more than that and poorer people drink more still.  There is also a difference between races - you can unpack that one yourself, most people know what I think about that.  I myself drink NO SSB a day and one of my sisters drinks 4 or so - guess we cancel each other out statistically speaking.  My other sister is closer to me on the SSB issue - same with our Mom.

Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2005–2008

• Males consume more sugar drinks than females.
• Teenagers and young adults consume more sugar drinks than other age groups.
• Approximately one-half of the U.S. population consumes sugar drinks on any given day.
• Non-Hispanic black children and adolescents consume more sugar drinks in relation to their overall diet than their Mexican-American counterparts. Non-Hispanic black and Mexican-American adults consume more than non-Hispanic white adults.
• Low-income persons consume more sugar drinks in relation to their overall diet than those with higher income.
• Most of the sugar drinks consumed away from home are obtained from stores and not restaurants or schools.

This is one of many interesting charts that are including in the full brief.