ABSTRACT
Noncaloric sweeteners (NCS) are food additives used to provide sweetness without adding calories. Their consumption has become more widespread around the world in all age groups, including children. The aim of this study is to show the state of the art about the intake of noncaloric sweeteners in children, as well as their benefits and consumption risk. Scientific searchers were used (PUBMED, Scopus, and Scielo) to analyze articles that included keywords (noncaloric sweeteners/saccharin/cyclamate/acesulfame potassium/aspartame/sucralose/stevia/children) in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Authors conclude that it is imperative that health professionals judiciously and individually evaluate the overall benefits and risks of NCS use in consumers before recommending their use. Different subgroups of the population incorporate products containing NCS in their diet with different objectives, which should be considered when recommending a diet plan for the consumer. In childhood, in earlier age groups, this type of additives should be used as a dietary alternative when other forms of prevention in obesity are not sufficient.
Subject(s)
Energy Intake , Food Additives/therapeutic use , Obesity/diet therapy , Sweetening Agents/therapeutic use , Aspartame/adverse effects , Aspartame/therapeutic use , Child , Cyclamates/adverse effects , Cyclamates/therapeutic use , Food Additives/adverse effects , Humans , Obesity/epidemiology , Obesity/prevention & control , Risk Assessment , Saccharin/adverse effects , Saccharin/therapeutic use , Stevia/chemistry , Sucrose/adverse effects , Sucrose/analogs & derivatives , Sucrose/therapeutic use , Sweetening Agents/administration & dosage , Thiazines/adverse effects , Thiazines/therapeutic useSubject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Infant, Newborn , Infant , Child, Preschool , Child , Child Nutrition Disorders , Dental Caries , Aspartame/therapeutic use , Cyclamates/therapeutic use , Diet, Cariogenic , Feeding Behavior , Lipids/therapeutic use , Saccharin/therapeutic use , Sorbitol/therapeutic use , Sweetening Agents/therapeutic use , Infant Nutrition Disorders/etiology , Xylitol/therapeutic useABSTRACT
The caries-preventive efficacy of sweeteners and sugar substitutes is not clearly established on an epidemiological scale. A review of cariogenicity assessments in vitro and in vivo as well as of human clinical caries trials, however, clearly demonstrates that the replacement of sugar by such products has a caries-preventive effect. The clinical relevance of some bacteriostatic and/or cariostatic properties ascribed to saccharin, aspartame, and xylitol remains to be corroborated.
