| dc.description.abstract | Consumption of sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) among school children is becoming
increasingly common in Kenya today. Some of the beverages are attractive to parents and
guardians of the children because they contain nutritional label claims, which are not necessarily
authenticated. Vitamin C is among the nutrients that are very commonly claimed to be present in
these beverages. Excessive and prolonged consumption of the beverages is likely to result in
positive energy balance, leading to overweight and possibly obesity in the children. The present
study was therefore designed to investigate the contribution of SSBs to dietary intake of calories
and vitamin C, and nutritional status of school children in Westlands Division of Nairobi. A
cross sectional survey involving 202 children, 91 males and III females selected from the three
categories of public primary schools A, B, C, was carried out. The children were selected
proportionately from the three categories of school with 96 from category A, 30 from Band 76
from C. A structured previously pre-tested questionnaire was administered to the children. A
food frequency, a 24-hour recall and focus group discussion were also carried out. A rapid
market appraisal was carried out and samples of selected SSBs were analysed for sugar content
as °Brix and vitamin C as reduced ascorbic acid. Anthropometric measurements were taken as a
measure of nutritional status.
The households in which the children lived comprised of 557c females and 459'c males, which
was slightly in variance with the national census. Category C had the highest proportion of
professional parents. Categories B and A parents were mainly from middle and lower socioeconomic
families. On the nutritional status based on the height-for-age Z scores, 91.6% of the
children were within the normal range, while 6.9% were moderately stunted and 1.5% severely
stunted. Category A had the highest stunting at 12.57('. The market appraisal revealed 50
different brands in three forms: ready to drink, concentrated and solid powders. Ready to drink
beverages were the commonest among the children, consumed at an average of 347ml daily. The
mean caloric intake was I37.4Kcals. Some SSBs contained very low levels of calories
suggesting they are sweetened with non-nutritive sweeteners. The mean intake for males was
higher than for the females although on average females consumed more than males. About 70%
of SSBs analysed had no vitamin C. The SSBs that contained vitamin C had a mean of 9.2mg
equivalent of 33.5% RDA. Only 11.5% of the SSBs had nutrition label information, of which
41.6% had claim of containing vitamin C. Majority (87.6%) of the school children consumed
SSBs every day in school. Quencher'f was the most widely consumed by 76.4% of the children.
The mean (I 37.4kcals) intake of calories from SSBs was equivalent to 6.5% and 7.7% of the
RDA for males and females respectively. Up to 64% of children consumed more than the
minimum amount (120kcals) likely to cause overweight when consumed daily for a period of
four years. Television and peer influence were commonest in influencing the choice beverage.
This study concludes that consumption of SSBs is high among the three categories of schools
and could lead to overweight. Vitamin C is not present in many SSBs even where the labels
indicate so. Therefore, SSBs contribute significantly to the caloric and vitamin C dietary intake
of school children. | en |
