The Study
Sugar-sweetened beverages, weight gain, and incidence of type 2 diabetes in young and middle-aged women.
This study watched a bunch of women over many years and noticed that those who drank more sugary sodas also tended to gain more weight and get diabetes more often. But it didn’t make them drink more — it just watched what they already did, so we can’t say for sure the soda caused it.
Analysis score
Maximum 72 for a cohort study.
Where the score came from
This study followed thousands of women to see if drinking sugary sodas and fruit punch made them gain weight or get diabetes.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 552 / 100
Quality score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — gaining nearly 5 kg over 4 years from just one sugary drink a day is a lot, and an 83% higher diabetes risk is a major health concern.
- 2Women who drank 1+ sugary drinks a day gained nearly 5 kg more over 4 years and had 83% higher risk of diabetes than those who drank less than 1 per month.
- 3Fruit punch was just as bad.
- 4Fruit juice was not linked to weight gain or diabetes.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
JAMA
Year
2004
Authors
M. Schulze, J. Manson, D. Ludwig, Graham A Colditz, M. Stampfer, W. Willett, F. Hu
Related Content
Claims (6)
Drinking fruit juice does not increase the risk of type 2 diabetes in women, even though it contains natural sugars, indicating that these sugars affect the body differently than added sugars in soda or fruit punch.
Women who increased their daily intake of sugary soft drinks from less than one per week to one or more per day gained an average of 4.79 kilograms over four years, while those who kept their intake low or reduced it gained less weight.
Women who drink one or more sugary sodas daily are 83% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes over eight years than women who drink less than one sugary soda per month, even when accounting for body weight and other lifestyle habits.
People who regularly consume added sugars and sugar-sweetened beverages have a higher rate of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those who do not.
Women who drink more fruit punch gain more weight and have twice the risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those who drink less, similar to the risk from sugar-sweetened soft drinks.
People who drink sugar-sweetened beverages regularly have a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and part of this increased risk is explained by weight gain.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.