Increased consumption despite fewer occasions: A longitudinal analysis of COVID-19 lockdown effects on soft drink consumption in England.

We examined the impact of a COVID-19 lockdown in England on the frequency of consumption occasions and amount of soft drinks consumed. Beverage consumption is strongly associated with specific, often social, consumption situations (e.g., going out). We reasoned that lockdown would affect consumption behaviour because it removed typical soft drink consumption situations. Specifically, we hypothesised that soft drink consumption occasions and amount would be reduced during lockdown compared to before and after lockdown, especially in typical soft drink consumption situations. In two surveys (Dec. 2020 and May 2021) among the same participants (N = 211, N = 160; consuming soft drinks at least once/week), we assessed the frequency of soft drink and water consumption occasions before, during, and after the Nov./Dec. 2020 lockdown, across typical soft drink and water drinking situations. This presents a detailed picture of the situations in which participants drink soft drinks and water, and how this was affected by a lockdown. We also assessed the daily amount of soft drinks and water consumed in each period, and perceived habitualness of drinking soft drinks and water. As predicted, participants reported fewer occasions of drinking soft drinks during lockdown compared to before and after, especially in typical soft drink consumption situations. Unexpectedly, however, the daily amount of soft drinks consumed increased during lockdown, compared to before and after, especially among participants with stronger perceived habitualness of soft drink consumption. Exploratory analyses suggest that during lockdown, participants increased their soft drink consumption at home. Water consumption, on the other hand, was not systematically affected by the lockdown. These findings suggest that even if some typical consumption situations disappear, consumption may be hard to disrupt if the behaviour is rewarding.

How to (ab)use a COVID-19 antigen rapid test with soft drinks?

With reasonably good specificity and sensitivity, the speed and convenience of COVID-19 antigen tests have led to self-testing in schools, offices, and universities in the European Union (EU). Although self-testing can be beneficial and increase the accessibility to testing, there are potential ways to confound a positive COVID-19 lateral flow test. We observed that all soft drinks, energy drinks, alcoholic beverages (vodka, whiskey, and brandy), commercially bottled mineral water, and carbonated mineral water caused the appearance of a red test line. However, when equal volumes of the buffer and the respective beverages are mixed, there are no false-positive test lines. Deceitful methods may easily lead to misuse of COVID-19 antigen rapid tests and lead to false-positive results; however, this does not prove that these tests are unreliable when performed correctly.

Is the development of obesogenic food environments a self-reinforcing process? Evidence from soft drink consumption.

BACKGROUND: Understanding how the development of obesogenic food environments and the consumption of ultra-processed foods and beverages influence each other can help policymakers to identify effective ways to curb the current obesity epidemic. This paper was designed to investigate whether, and to what extent, the consumption of soft drinks and the prevalence of obesity are linked through feedback effects. METHODS: An ecological study design and a simultaneous equation model were used to investigate the existence of a vicious cycle between the consumption of soft drinks and the prevalence of obesity. The analysis was based on a longitudinal dataset covering per capita sales of soft drinks, the age-standardised prevalence rate of obesity and several demographic and socio-economic control variables in a sample of 98 countries worldwide for the period 2005-2019. RESULTS: Using a Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) regression model with fixed effects, we documented a self-reinforcing process that links consumption and obesity. Changes in the spread of obesity were associated with changes in soft drink consumption: a one-unit increase in the age-adjusted prevalence rate of obesity increased consumption by about 2.39 l per person per year. Similarly, as the consumption of soft drinks rose, so did the prevalence of obesity: the age-adjusted rate of obesity increased by 0.07% for every additional litre consumed per capita. Computing the impact multipliers, we found that the outcome of a one-unit decrease in the average price of soft drinks was twofold: a) the prevalence of obesity increased by around 0.17%; and b) consumption increased by around 2.40 l per person, the sum of the increase directly caused by the price reduction (2 l) and the increase due to the interplay between consumption and obesity (0.4 l). CONCLUSIONS: This study has identified a feedback loop between unhealthy habits (i.e. the consumption of soft drinks) and health outcomes (i.e. the prevalence of obesity). This interplay amplifies the impact of any exogenous changes in the determinants of consumption and obesity. These feedback effects should be considered and exploited in planning effective strategies to tackle the burden of obesity and the global epidemic of non-​communicable diseases.

Reasons why COVID-19 survivors should follow dietary World Cancer Research Fund/American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) recommendations: from hyper-inflammation to cardiac dysfunctions.

The World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research (WCRF/AICR) advise cancer survivors to follow their lifestyle recommendations for cancer prevention.  Recent research indicates that a proper diet could exerts beneficial metabolic and immune effects in humans through the involvement of several, not yet properly known, metabolic pathways. Here, we argue that following WCRF/AICR recommendations could be a strategy to prevent cardiovascular outcomes [fulminant myocarditis, heart failure, venous thromboembolism (VTE)] and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in patients during follow-up post COVID-19 infection. We discuss the metabolic effects of a WCRF/AICR based diet, highlighting on the involved cardio-metabolic pathways related on NLRP3 inflammasome-cytokines axis aimed to improve prognosis of COVID-19, especially in patients with cancer.

[Time-series analysis of the consumption of sweetened soft drinks among adults in Brazil: 2007 to 2014]. / Análise de série temporal do consumo de bebidas açucaradas entre adultos no Brasil: 2007 a 2014.

The scope of this article is to analyze the time-series trend and factors associated with the consumption of soft drinks or packaged fruit juices among adults in Brazil. It is a study based on secondary data from the System of Surveillance of Risk Factors and Protection for Chronic Diseases by Telephone Survey conducted among Brazilian adults between 2007 and 2014. The consumption frequency and intensity (number of cups or cans per week) of soda or packaged juice was checked. Socio-demographic and behavioral data were the independent variables. The time-series trend of annual consumption was evaluated by means of Linear Regression. The factors (age, sex, region, work, schooling and TV screen time) associated with the consumption of these beverages were investigated by Poisson regression. There was a 32.7% reduction in soft drink or packaged juice consumption between 2007 and 2014. Factors associated with higher consumption were: male sex (p = 0.000); 18-29 year-age-range (p = 0.000); residence in the central-west, southeast and southern regions (p = 0.000); lower schooling (p = 0.616); being employed (p = 0.007) and more than 3 hours of TV screen time per day (p = 0.000). The analyses describe a downward trend in the consumption of soda or packaged fruit juice among adults in Brazil from 2007 to 2014.

O objetivo deste artigo é analisar a tendência temporal e os fatores associados ao consumo de refrigerante ou suco artificial entre adultos no Brasil. Estudo desenvolvido a partir de dados secundários do Sistema de Vigilância de Fatores de Risco e Proteção para Doenças Crônicas por Inquérito Telefônico, realizado com adultos brasileiros entre 2007-2014. Foi verificada a frequência e a intensidade do consumo (quantidade de copos ou latas por semana) de refrigerante ou suco artificial. Dados sociodemográficos e comportamentais foram as variáveis independentes. A tendência temporal do consumo anual foi avaliada por meio de Regressão Linear. Os fatores associados (idade, sexo, região, trabalho, escolaridade, hábito de assistir TV) ao consumo dessas bebidas foram investigados por Regressão de Poisson. Houve redução de 32,7% do consumo de refrigerante ou suco artificial entre 2007 e 2014. Os fatores associados ao maior consumo foram: sexo masculino (p = 0,000); faixa etária de 18-29 anos (p = 0,000); residência nas regiões centro-oeste, sudeste e sul (p = 0,000); menor escolaridade (p = 0,616); estar empregado (p = 0,007) e assistir TV mais de 3 horas por dia (p = 0,000). As análises descrevem uma tendência de queda no consumo de refrigerante ou suco artificial entre os adultos no Brasil de 2007 a 2014.