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• October 2010 - Canadian Obesity Rates Rising Slowly among Developed Countries

  Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Report:
  Obesity and the Economics of Prevention: Fit not Fat

  News Release, September 23, 2010

  This new OECD report examines the current obesity epidemic, giving new comparative data, trends and projections across OECD countries and outlining causes and costs. It also notes ways in which the private sector and governments encouraged obesity and makes recommendations for ways they can contribute to combating it.

  Since the 1980s, obesity has spread at an alarming rate. Changes in food supply and eating habits, combined with a dramatic fall in physical activity, have made obesity a global epidemic. Across OECD countries, one in 2 adults is currently overweight and 1 in 6 is obese. The rate of overweight people is projected to increase by a further 1% per year for the next 10 years in some countries.

  Obesity rates are high in Canada, relative to most OECD countries, but they have not increased substantially in the last 15 years. Two out of 3 men are overweight and 1 in 4 people are obese in Canada, but the rate of increase has been one of the slowest in the OECD. The proportion of people overweight is projected by the OECD to rise a further 5% during the next 10 years.

  Past and projected future overweight rates in selected OECD countries

  For full media release, please see:  OECD says governments must fight fat

  For full report, please see Obesity and the Economics of Prevention: Fit not Fat

  For Canadian Data, please see:  Obesity and the Economics of Prevention: Fit not Fat - Canada Key Facts

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• August 2010 - Nutritively Sweetened Beverage Consumption and Body Weight – Systematic Review

  Nutritively Sweetened Beverage Consumption and Body Weight: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Experiments.

  Mattes RD, Shikany JM, Kaiser KA, Allison DB
  Department of Foods and Nutrition, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

  Obes Rev. 2011 May;12(5):346-65

  Abstract: Nutritively sweetened beverages (NSBs) may play a role in the obesity epidemic. We abstracted data from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and evidence-based reviews through January 2009 concerning effects of consumption of NSBs on changes in body weight and adiposity. Studies included were those (i) conducted in humans; (ii) lasting at least 3 weeks; (iii) incorporating random assignment of subjects to conditions that differed only in the consumption of NSBs and (iv) including an adiposity indicator as an outcome.

  Twelve studies met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis of six studies that added NSBs to persons' diets showed dose-dependent increases in weight. Contrarily, meta-analysis of studies that attempted to reduce NSB consumption consistently showed no effect on body mass index (BMI) when all subjects were considered. Meta-analysis of studies providing access to results separately for subjects overweight at baseline showed a significant effect of a roughly 0.35 standard deviations lesser BMI change (i.e. more weight loss or less weight gain) relative to controls. The current evidence does not demonstrate conclusively that NSB consumption has uniquely contributed to obesity or that reducing NSB consumption will reduce BMI levels in general. We recommend an adequately powered RCT with overweight persons, for whom there is suggestive evidence of an effect.

  Link to abstract

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• June 2010 - Efficacy of sweet solutions for analgesia in infants: Systematic review

  Efficacy of Sweet Solutions for Analgesia in Infants Between 1 and 12 Months of Age: A Systematic Review.

  Harrison D, Stevens B, Bueno M, Yamada J, Adams-Webber T, Beyene J, Ohlsson A.
  The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada. denise.harrison@utoronto.ca

  Arch Dis Child. 2010 May 12. [Epub ahead of print]

  Objective: To compare the efficacy of oral sweet solutions to water or no treatment in infants aged 1-12 months during immunisation.

  Methods: Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were retrieved through internet searches or manual searches of reference lists. Search terms included newborn, infant, pain, sucrose and alternative names for sweet solutions. Summary estimates with 95% CIs were calculated and included relative risk (RR), risk difference (RD) and number needed to treat to benefit (NNTB) for dichotomous outcomes, and weighted mean differences (WMD) for continuous outcomes. Where pooling of results was not possible, a narrative summary of study results is presented.

  Results: Of the 695 studies identified, 14 RCTs with 1674 injections met the inclusion criteria. Sucrose or glucose, compared to water or no treatment decreased crying during or following immunisation in 13 of the 14 studies. Infants receiving 30% glucose (three trials, 243 infants) had a decreased RR in crying incidence following immunisation (typical RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.69 to 0.93; RD -0.17, 95% CI -0.29 to -0.05; NNTB 6, 95% CI 3 to 20). With sucrose or glucose, there was a 10% WMD reduction in proportion of crying time (95% CI -18 to -2) and a 12 s reduction in crying duration (95% CI -23 to -0.7 s). An optimal dose of sucrose or glucose could not be ascertained due to the varied volumes and concentrations used.

  Conclusion: Infants aged 1-12 months administered sucrose or glucose before immunisation had moderately reduced incidence and duration of crying. Healthcare professionals should consider using sucrose or glucose before and during immunisation.

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• April 2010 - New Recipe Resources – A Taste of Sugar

  New Recipe Resources – A Taste of Sugar

  The Canadian Sugar Institute (CSI) Nutrition Information Service is pleased to provide you with the latest editions of our Recipe Collection - A Taste of Sugar.

  A Taste of Sugar provides consumers with healthy recipes, nutrition-based content and practical information about the functional roles of sugar in cooking and baking. This collection features five new editions for ordering or downloading.

  Please click below to download these new recipe resources:

  • Appetizers
  • Soups
  • Salads
  • Breakfast
  • Quick Breads

  To order free print copies of these recipe sheets, please send your request to info@sugar.ca.

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• February 2010 - Sugar Consumption and Health: a Review of the Evidence from 1995-2006

  Is Sugar Consumption Detrimental to Health? A Review of the Evidence 1995-2006.

  Ruxton CH, Gardner EJ, McNulty HM.

  Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2010 Jan;50(1):1-19.

  Many countries set quantitative targets for added sugars, justifying this by expressing concern about the likely impact of sugar on weight control, dental health, diet quality, or metabolic syndrome. This review considers whether current intakes of sugar are harmful to health, and analyses recent literature using a systematic approach to collate, rank, and evaluate published studies from 1995-2006. Results from high quality obesity studies did not suggest a positive association between body mass index and sugar intake. Some studies, specifically on sweetened beverages, highlighted a potential concern in relation to obesity risk, although these were limited by important methodological issues. Diet adequacy appeared to be achieved across sugar intakes of 6 to 20% energy, depending on subject age. Studies on metabolic syndrome reported no adverse effects of sugar in the long-term, even at intakes of 40-50% energy. The evidence for colorectal cancer suggested an association with sugar, but this appeared to have been confounded by energy intake and glycemic load. There was no credible evidence linking sugar with attention-deficit, dementia, or depression. Regarding dental caries, combinations of sugar amount/frequency, fluoride exposure, and food adhesiveness were more reliable predictors of caries risk than the amount of sugar alone. Overall, the available evidence did not support a single quantitative sugar guideline covering all health issues.

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• January 2010 - The Sweet Side of Pain Management

  The Sweet Side of Pain Management

  Newsroom - The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, January 22, 2010

  Just a drop or two of sugar water (sucrose) really does go a long way in reducing pain in infants, who are exposed to pricks and pokes and more during their hospital stay. That’s according to researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). Using sucrose is the most frequently studied non-drug approach to managing pain in infants and now SickKids researchers have compiled the most comprehensive analysis of the data yet. The study is in published in The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 1.

  The scientists reviewed 44 studies involving over 3,000 newborn infants. They found that sucrose is safe and effective for reducing pain during single painful procedures. They assessed a broad range of procedures performed on infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), including heel pokes, injections and inserting IVs and catheters. The study showed sucrose decreased the babies’ crying time and pain behaviours such as grimacing. More research is needed to determine the optimal dose to give babies and how effective sugar is when it given repeatedly and in combination with other drugs.

  The authors say in the past, studies on pain management in the NICU have been lacking in terms of precise information on dosing, safety and use of sucrose on a repeated basis. Dr. Bonnie Stevens, Associate Chief of Nursing Research, Signy Hildur Eaton Chair of Paediatric Nursing Research and Senior Scientist at SickKids, Professor at the University of Toronto in Nursing and Medicine and principal author of the study, hopes this research will provide caregivers with the knowledge and confidence to routinely use sugar to manage pain.

  "As part of their hospitalization babies undergo a lot of painful procedures and pain has a lot of consequences," says Stevens. "I urge all health professionals and parents to be advocates for babies when it comes to managing pain and work with their nurse to determine whether sucrose can help babies".

  According to Stevens, nurses like giving sucrose because it's easy to use, safe and accessible, but most of all they can see the immediate benefit it has on decreasing babies' pain.

  The study was funded by CIHR Knowledge Synthesis Grant and SickKids Foundation.

  Link to Sick Kids Newsroom

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