Sweetened drinks increase women's chances of having diabetes

The risk of developing type 2 diabetes among women who drank one or more cans of sugar sweetened soft drinks a day over several years is 1.83 times (95% confidence interval 1.42 to 2.36; P<0.001 for the trend) the risk among women who drank less than one a month, a new study shows (JAMA 2004;292:927-34).

Consumption in the United States of soft drinks—the leading source of sugars in the country's diet—increased by 61% among adults from 1977 to 1997 and more than doubled in children and adolescents between the periods 1977-8 and 1994-8.

Women with stable patterns of consumption of soft drinks showed …