Dubai Health studies the relationship of sweetened beverages to "obesity" and "diabetes"
The Dubai Health Authority has called on all health facilities licensed by it to participate in a questionnaire on exploring the auxiliary and inhibitory factors for sugar-sweetened drinks in the country, and the questionnaire focuses on knowing the relationship between consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and health conditions such as obesity or diabetes.
The authority circulated the study questionnaire to all health facilities licensed by it, in the interest of the Mohammed bin Rashid College of Governmental Administration, stressing that participation is not mandatory, and that all data and personal information of the participants are dealt with in complete confidentiality and privacy.
The study was titled Exploring the cofactors and inhibitors of sugar-sweetened beverages in the UAE, and the study is being conducted to find out more about sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) with permission from the Ethics Committee No. REC-80-2020, as sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) are considered any product containing added sugar. Or other sweetening materials, whether in the form of a beverage, concentrate, powder, gel, extract, or any product that can be converted into a beverage such as energy drinks and soft drinks.Examples of sugar include: white sugar - sucrose, dextrose, fructose, glucose syrup, lactose, and others. .
Excluded from sweetened sugar products are ready-to-drink drinks that contain at least 75% of milk or milk substitutes, infant formula, and beverages designated for specific nutritional or medical needs.
The questionnaire focused on knowing the link between consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and health conditions such as obesity or diabetes, and on the public's knowledge of the decision to impose a tax (price increase) on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) in the country, does the public see the necessity of this tax, and what is the impact of this tax On health conditions such as obesity, diabetes, and other diseases, and would the public be more supportive of the sugar-sweetened beverage tax if the revenues were directed toward general government spending, and would the public be more supportive of the sugar-sweetened beverage tax if the revenues were directed toward healthy lifestyle programs?
Consumption of sweetened drinks
The Dubai Health Authority questionnaire focused on the amount of public consumption of sweetened drinks per week and month, and did consumption change during the general lockdown (quarantine) in the period of the spread of Corona disease (Covid 19), and to what extent do the prices of sweetened drinks, and the ease of their availability in Home and abroad, offers on the market, availability at low prices, energy and other factors that encourage the public to drink sugar-sweetened drinks, and their impact on the elderly.