Worldwide sugar consumption is on the increase, partly due to the popularity of sugary soft drinks and other sweetened drinks, according to a study.

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Researchers in North Carolina found that the average daily consumption of sugar and other calorie-containing sweeteners rose 74 calories between 1962 and 2000, reported Reuters Health.


In the US, the increase was even greater, rising 83 calories from 1977 to 1996.


“This research provides a clear sense of the enormity of the increase in added caloric sweeteners in our diet, much of which is potentially hidden,” co-author Dr. Barry M. Popkin at the University of North Carolina told Reuters Health. 


Popkin and colleague Samara Joy Nielsen, whose research is reported in the journal Obesity Research, studied dietary data from 103 countries in 1962 and 127 in 2000. They also studied data from three national US surveys conducted from 1977 to1978, 1989 to 1991 and 1994 to 1998. 

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