The Study
Sugar-sweetened and diet beverages in relation to visceral adipose tissue
This study looked at what people ate and how much belly fat they had, all at the same time. It found that people who drank more sugary drinks tended to have more fat around their organs, but it doesn't prove that the drinks caused the fat — maybe people with more fat just like sugary drinks more.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
This study looked at what people drank and how their belly fat was distributed using special scans.
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 542 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — having more fat around organs is linked to higher risk of diabetes and heart disease, even if your weight is normal.
- 2People who drank more sugary sodas had more fat around their organs (visceral fat), even if they weren't heavier overall.
- 3People who drank diet sodas were heavier and had bigger waists, but didn't have more organ fat.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)
Year
2011
Authors
A. Odegaard, A. Choh, S. Czerwinski, B. Towne, Ellen W. Demerath
Related Content
Claims (6)
Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a higher proportion of fat stored around internal organs compared to fat stored under the skin.
Among non-Hispanic white adults aged 18–70, drinking diet beverages more often is linked to higher waist size, body mass index, and total body fat, but not to a higher proportion of fat around internal organs compared to fat under the skin.
Among non-Hispanic white adults aged 18–70, drinking sugar-sweetened beverages is linked to larger waist size and higher levels of fat around internal organs, even when overall body weight and total body fat remain unchanged.
In non-Hispanic white adults between 18 and 70 years old, higher consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages is linked to a higher proportion of visceral fat, regardless of whether the person is male or female or whether they are between 18–43 or 44–69 years old.
In non-Hispanic white adults aged 18–70, drinking sugar-sweetened beverages is linked to larger waist size and a higher proportion of fat around internal organs, even when accounting for total calorie intake and other dietary factors such as fiber, dairy, red meat, and alcohol.
Among non-Hispanic white adults aged 18–70, drinking sugar-sweetened beverages more often is linked to a higher ratio of visceral fat to subcutaneous fat, even when accounting for overall body fat and body mass index.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.