The Study
Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption and Risk of Visceral Fat Accumulation Among University Students in Thailand.
This study looked at a group of college students and found that those who drank more sugary drinks also tended to have more body fat. But it didn't watch them over time, so we don't know if the drinks made them fat, or if fat people just liked sugary drinks more. It's like noticing that people who carry umbrellas are wet — but we don't know if the umbrella caused the wetness or if rain caused both.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
This study looked at college students in Thailand who drink sugary drinks like iced milk tea every day and found that the more sugar they drank, the more fat built up around their insides.
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 544 / 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 — this level of belly fat increases risk for diabetes and heart disease, and the sugar intake is far above WHO’s 24g/day limit.
- 2Students who drank more than 24g of sugar from drinks daily had 83% higher chance of dangerous belly fat, 2.1kg more fat mass, and 1.3 higher BMI than those who drank less.
- 3Obese students drank 34g/day, and women with high belly fat had BMI over 41 — way higher than men with same fat level.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Roczniki Panstwowego Zakladu Higieny
Year
2025
Authors
P. Pouyfung, Jaruneth Petchoo, Suwichak Chaisit
Related Content
Claims (6)
Thai university students with higher levels of visceral fat consume nearly twice as much sugar from sugary drinks each day as students with normal visceral fat levels.
Thai university students aged 19–22 who drink more than 24 grams of sugar per day from sugary beverages have higher visceral fat, more body fat, and higher body mass index compared to those who drink less.
Thai university students with higher body mass index (BMI) consume more sugar from sugary drinks than those with lower BMI, with underweight students consuming 25.2 grams per day and obese students consuming 34.0 grams per day.
Drinking sugar-sweetened beverages is associated with a higher proportion of fat stored around internal organs compared to fat stored under the skin.
In Thai university students, females with high visceral fat have an average BMI of 41.20 kg/m², while males with the same level of visceral fat have an average BMI of 30.06 kg/m².
Thai university students who have high levels of visceral fat consume more than 40 grams of sugar daily from sweetened tea, especially iced milk tea, which is their most common sugar-sweetened drink.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.