Relationship Between Insulin Resistance-associated Metabolic Parameters and Anthropometric Measurements with Sugar-sweetened Beverage Intake and Physical Activity Levels in US Adolescents: Findings from the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition...

Objective: To evaluate the relationship between insulin resistance-associated metabolic parameters and anthropometric measurements with sugar-sweetened beverage intake and physical activity levels.

Design: A cross-sectional analysis of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data collected by the National Center for Health Statistics.

Setting: Nationally representative samples of US adolescents participating in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey during the years 1999-2004.

Participants: A total of 6967 adolescents aged 12 to 19 years.

Main Exposure: Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and physical activity levels.

Outcome Measures: Glucose and insulin concentrations, a homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), total, high-density lipoprotein, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations, triglyceride concentrations, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, waist circumference, and body mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) percentile for age and sex.

Results: Multivariate linear regression analyses showed that increased sugar-sweetened beverage intake was independently associated with increased HOMA-IR, systolic blood pressure, waist circumference, and body mass index percentile for age and sex and decreased HDL cholesterol concentrations; alternatively, increased physical activity levels were independently associated with decreased HOMA-IR, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations, and triglyceride concentrations and increased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations. Furthermore, low sugar-sweetened beverage intake and high physical activity levels appear to modify each others' effects of decreasing HOMA-IR and triglyceride concentrations and increasing high-density lipoprotein cholesterol concentrations.

Conclusions: Sugar-sweetened beverage intake and physical activity levels are each independently associated with insulin resistance-associated metabolic parameters and anthropometric measurements in adolescents. Moreover, low sugar-sweetened beverage intake and high physical activity levels appear to modify each others' effects on several health-related outcome variables.