Association between sucrose intake and risk of overweight and obesity in a prospective sub-cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer in Norfolk (EPIC-Norfolk).

Objective: The objective of the present study was to investigate associations between sugar intake and overweight using dietary biomarkers in the Norfolk cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC-Norfolk).

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: EPIC-Norfolk in the UK, recruitment between 1993 and 1997.

Subjects: Men and women (n 1734) aged 39-77 years. Sucrose intake was assessed using 7 d diet diaries. Baseline spot urine samples were analysed for sucrose by GC-MS. Sucrose concentration adjusted by specific gravity was used as a biomarker for intake. Regression analyses were used to investigate associations between sucrose intake and risk of BMI>25·0 kg/m2 after three years of follow-up.

Results: After three years of follow-up, mean BMI was 26·8 kg/m2. Self-reported sucrose intake was significantly positively associated with the biomarker. Associations between the biomarker and BMI were positive (β=0·25; 95 % CI 0·08, 0·43), while they were inverse when using self-reported dietary data (β=-1·40; 95 % CI -1·81, -0·99). The age- and sex-adjusted OR for BMI>25·0 kg/m2 in participants in the fifth v. first quintile was 1·54 (95 % CI 1·12, 2·12; P trend=0·003) when using biomarker and 0·56 (95 % CI 0·40, 0·77; P trend<0·001) with self-reported dietary data.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that sucrose measured by objective biomarker but not self-reported sucrose intake is positively associated with BMI. Future studies should consider the use of objective biomarkers of sucrose intake.