The Association of Global Beverage Consumption with Strength of the Economy, Position in the World System, Poverty, and Income Inequality

Recent research has begun to study the relationship of sweetened and other beverages with body weight, generally finding positive associations. Fewer quantitative studies of multiple countries have examined population levels... [ view full abstract ]

Recent research has begun to study the relationship of sweetened and other beverages with body weight, generally finding positive associations. Fewer quantitative studies of multiple countries have examined population levels of the intake of these drinks. We used a dataset researchers developed for the intake of these beverages by age group for 180 countries. Age-groups for each gender are represented by ‘mid-point age’ ranges, which are 25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, and 90 years. We used data about percent income spent on food from the Food and Agriculture Organization and data about income inequality, imports of wheat, and income inequality from World Bank Indicator files. We also used data about position in the world system drawn from recent studies. We test the hypothesis that globalization, position in the world system, and lower levels of poverty are associated with sweetened beverage intake regardless of age-group and gender. Some of our findings indicate that higher position in the world system, greater the GDP per capita PPP, and lower the percent of income expended for food where associated with higher intake of fruit juice by children. The youngest adults in countries with lower percent of income for food and lower the income inequality had higher intake of sweetened beverages. Male intake of fruit juice and milk were largely associated with higher GDP per capita PPP; however, in the case of sweetened beverage consumption this was greater with lower percent income spent on food and greater income inequality.  Overall, development was associated with beverage consumption.