Increasing concerns about the health effects of dietary sugar may be helping to put a lid on global consumption. A new study reports that dietary sugar intake is decreasing or stable among most demographic groups, and increasing only in a few subpopulations. In findings published in Nutrition Research Reviews, researchers compared both absolute sugar intake and consumption as a percentage of calories in the US, 10 European countries, Australia and New Zealand. Just over half of those comparisons showed trends toward decreasing sugar consumption. Male Norwegian adults had the greatest decrease, while New Zealand women increased sugar intake the most. Sugar consumption in the US was down among most groups—including male adolescents, a group frequently cited in concerns about high sugar intake.
