ABSTRACT
As the sugar intake of Malaysians is one of the highest in the Asia Pacific region, we wanted to investigate how this high prevalence of ‘sweet tooth’ is influenced by biological determinants like age, gender, ethnicity and Body Mass Index (BMI). Therefore, this study was to determine the demographic and BMI differences of preference, intake frequency and craving of a list of sweet beverages and food among Malaysian subjects. Convenience sampling was performed around Kuala Lumpur, with informed consents, involving 367 multi-ethnic subjects (163 males, 204 females; 83 Malays, 201 Chinese, 83 Indians; 209 lean, 158 overweight). Demographics and anthropometric measurements were taken and questionnaire on the preference/frequency/craving of a list of 22 sweet food and beverages with a 7 point hedonic scale (from 1= very unpleasant/never/never crave to 7 = very pleasant/at least once a day/ always crave) was performed. Females significantly preferred more, took less frequently but had equal craving of sweet foods compared to males. Lean subjects and those <25 years showed significantly higher preference, intake frequency and craving of sweet foods. The ethnic differences in rating the preference, intake frequency and cravings seemed to be food-specific and culturally-related, where overall, ethnic Chinese had significantly higher intake frequency but lesser craving of sweet foods compared to Malays and Indians. Understanding the demographic and anthropometric factors that may affect the preference, intake frequency and craving of certain sweet foods can help to plan for strategies to prevent the detrimental health burden of high sugar intake among Malaysians.