Abstract
Objectives: To analyze the prevalence of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption in Taiwan and estimate the population attributable risk percentage (PAR%) to evaluate the medical care burden of SSB consumption. Methods: The prevalence of SSB consumption was calculated by age and sex according to data from the Taiwan Nutrition and Health Survey collected between 2013 and 2016. The disease-specific relative risks of SSB consumption were determined by reviewing the literature. The medical care costs of diseases attributable to SSB intake were estimated by multiplying PAR% by average annual medical expenditures from 2015 to 2017 according to data in the National Health Insurance Research Database. Results: Among the 10,443 enrollees in this study, 40% of children aged 3-12 years reported consuming sugar-sweetened juice in the preceding month; for adults aged 13-35 and ≥36 years, who had consumed SSB, the relevant percentages were 97% and 70%, respectively. Men reported higher SSB consumption than women did. The average annual health insurance medical expenditure attributable this SSB overconsumption was NT$8.7-23.3 billion (95% confidence interval: NT$4.9-32.4 billion). Conclusions: We identified a distinct and elevated pattern in the prevalence of SSB consumption among young people. Although we extracted the disease risk from the literature and did not consider the dose-response relationship between SSB consumption and disease, the results clearly indicate that SSB overconsumption is related to disease incidence; the corresponding increase in medical care burden is a critical health policy concern.
Translated title of the contribution | Prevalence of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and estimated National Health Insurance-related medical expenditures among Taiwanese people |
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Original language | Chinese (Traditional) |
Pages (from-to) | 319-331 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Taiwan Journal of Public Health |
Volume | 40 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2021 Jun |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health