Sugar drink calories in Chilean preschoolers and teens
What it found
In 2016, Chilean preschoolers and teenagers got more of their daily calories from drinks that would later be regulated for high sugar than from unregulated drinks.
The data came from one-day diet recalls in 958 preschoolers and 767 adolescents.
What they found
Studies in people
Preschoolers' drink calories
Preschoolers got the most drink calories from regulated dairy drinks and substitutes (109 kcal), unregulated dairy drinks (102 kcal), and regulated fruit and vegetable drinks (44 kcal).
Teens' drink calories
Adolescents got the most drink calories from regulated sodas (77 kcal), regulated dairy drinks and substitutes (41 kcal), and unregulated coffee and tea (41 kcal).
Regulated vs unregulated
Regulated drinks provided a greater share of calories than unregulated drinks for preschoolers (15.0% vs. 11.8%) and for adolescents (9.1% vs. 5.0%).
Stricter rules later
Under the final phase of Chile's rules, 6.9% more calories from regulated drinks would be captured in preschoolers and 10.8% more in adolescents.
Weekend vs weekday
Preschoolers and adolescents drank more regulated soda on weekends than on weekdays. Preschoolers drank more fruit and vegetable drinks on weekdays.
Other findings
National sales trends
National sales data showed sugar-sweetened drink sales fell 8.2% from 2013 to 2017, while bottled water and diet cola sales rose. As of 2017, sugar-sweetened drink sales were about seven times those of diet carbonates.
What the authors conclude
“Future research will be needed to monitor the impact of Chile's marketing, labeling, and school policies on regulated sugary beverage intake and subsequent obesity and cardiometabolic disease risk.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say the majority of beverage calories for both age groups would be subject to the front-of-package and marketing regulations in the first phase if not reformulated.
- They state that future research will be needed to monitor the impact of Chile's marketing, labeling, and school policies on regulated sugary beverage intake and later obesity and heart disease risk.
How it was done
Chile had the highest sugar-sweetened drink sales in the world and rising childhood obesity. The authors wanted a baseline of what children drank after a 2014 sugar tax but before marketing, labeling and school rules began in 2016.
They collected one-day diet recalls in 2016 from 958 preschoolers aged 3 to 5 and 767 adolescents aged 12 to 14 from low to middle income neighborhoods in Santiago. They sorted every drink by whether it would be regulated under Chile's 2016 nutrient thresholds.
What it can’t tell you
- The diet recalls covered only one day, so they may not reflect what children usually drink.
- The children came from low to middle income areas of Santiago, so the results may not apply to all Chilean children.
- This study cannot show whether the later regulations changed what children drank.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by NICHD NIH HHS; The National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development, Chile; International Development Research Centre (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Authors work at
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA; University of Chile, Chile
The paper
- Title
- Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake among Chilean Preschoolers and Adolescents in 2016: A Cross-Sectional Analysis
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Essman M, Popkin BM, Corvalán C, Reyes M, Taillie LS (2018). Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake among Chilean Preschoolers and Adolescents in 2016: A Cross-Sectional Analysis. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu10111767Free full textPubMed 30445671DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error