Artificial sweetener use and one-year weight change among women

Prev Med. 1986 Mar;15(2):195-202. doi: 10.1016/0091-7435(86)90089-7.

Abstract

Weight change over a 1-year period was examined in a highly homogeneous group of 78,694 women ages 50-69 enrolled in a prospective mortality study. Artificial sweetener usage increased with relative weight and decreased with age. Users were significantly more likely than nonusers to gain weight, regardless of initial weight. Average weight gains or losses by artificial sweetener users differed by less than 2 pounds from gains or losses among nonusers. These results were not explicable by differences in food consumption patterns. The data do not support the hypothesis that long-term artificial sweetener use either helps weight loss or prevents weight gain.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Body Height
  • Body Weight*
  • Female
  • Food
  • Humans
  • Middle Aged
  • Mortality
  • Population Surveillance
  • Prospective Studies
  • Puerto Rico
  • Sweetening Agents*
  • Time Factors
  • United States

Substances

  • Sweetening Agents