Women in metro cities consume higher quantities of added sugar than men: Survey

Women in metropolitan cities, especially Mumbai, consume higher quantities of added sugar than men, according to a recent survey.

The mean intake of added sugar, measured in grams per day, is least in Hyderabad, the findings revealed.

The survey, undertaken by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Nutrition (NIN) in Hyderabad, found out that the average daily intake of added sugar in all metro cities was 19.5 grams/ day, lower than the ICMR recommended level of 30 grams/day.

It was sponsored by International Life Sciences Institute -India (ILSI-India).

The National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (NNMB) collated the dietary data from 16 major states during 2015-16 and re-coded recipe-wise and metro city-wise to arrive at the conclusions, experts said.

The survey shows that population of Mumbai and Ahmedabad with their average intake level of added sugar at 26.3 grams/ day and 25.9 grams/day respectively, has a much higher intake than their counterparts in Delhi (23.2 grams /day), Bengaluru (19.3 grams day), Kolkata (17.1 grams per day) and Chennai (16.1 grams per day), P K Seth, the chairman of ILSA-India, said.

In general, the average intake of sugar was more among women (20.2 grams /day) than that in men (18.7 grams/ day).

The same trend was observed in all cities except Ahmedabad, where men and women were consuming almost equal quantity of added sugar.

The disparity in consumption of added sugar between men and women seems to be more in Mumbai than in other cities. While women in Mumbai consume 28 grams / day, men's intake is only 24.4 grams/day.

Another significant finding of the study is related to the energy added through the added sugar.

For all the states, the average energy intake through added sugar was 5.1 pc. In Mumbai, the energy through added sugar was found at the highest level (6.6 pc) followed by Delhi (6.1pc), Ahmedabad (5.9 pc), Hyderabad (5.4 pc) Bengaluru (4.1 pc), Chennai (3.9 pc) and Kolkata (3.5 pc).

The survey also measured the intake of added sugar by age groups. In general, adults and elderly people were consuming slightly higher sugar than the younger ones.

The highest intake of sugar was observed among older adults, 36-59 years age group (20.5 grams/ day), followed by elderly ( greater than 60 years) 20.3 grams/ day.

The adolescents (19.9 grams/ day) and younger adults ( in the age group of 18-35 years) were consuming 19.4 grams per day, almost the same as that of adolescents.

The school children and pre-school children were consuming 17.6 grams / day and 15.6 grams/ day added sugar respectively.

The joint initiative of ICMR-INN and ILSI India is the first-of-its-kind that provides information on added sugar consumption of the city dwellers in seven major metro cities of India.

At a time, the country is facing malnutrition on account of over and undernutrition along with micronutrient malnutrition, the study is of considerable importance to India to help prevent non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which are engaging considerable attention of the government.