People who get a significant amount of their daily caloric intake from sugary drinks are more likely to have COPD.
That’s according to the paper, “Consideration of Chronic Pulmonary Disease and Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages in the Dental Hygiene Care Plan,” published in the Journal of Dental Hygiene.
The researchers used cross-sectional data from the 2015-2020 National Health and Nutrition Survey on adults aged 18 and older. The dependent variable was COPD, and the primary variable of interest was the precent of daily caloric intake from sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB).
Overall, 8.6% of individuals reported COPD, while 44.1% reported drinking SSBs. According to the American Medical Journal, the researchers found that those who obtained more than 10% of their daily calories from sugary drinks had a 39% higher likelihood of having COPD compared to those consuming less than 10%.
“The percent of daily overall caloric intake from SSB was significantly associated with COPD,” the researchers wrote.
The researchers concluded that awareness of the relationship between COPD and sugary drink consumption “can aid in decision-making when identifying priorities for nutritional counseling.”
