A peer-reviewed study published this week found that rising temperatures in the United States are associated with increased purchases of sugar-laden beverages and some frozen desserts.
The spikes were most prevalent among lower-income and less-educated households.
“This again stresses the inequality issues embedded in both public health management and climate change adaptation,” Dr. Pan He, lecturer at Cardiff University and among corresponding authors of the study, told Newsweek.
Why It Matters
The study connects two public-health concerns: longer-term warming trends and persistent high consumption of added sugars—primarily from sugar-sweetened beverages—in the U.S. diet. The finding links short-term weather variation to food-purchasing behavior and examines climate warming’s potential to compound diet-related health risks for vulnerable populations.
What To Know
In the study published in Nature Climate Change on Monday, researchers estimated the temperature-linked increase equals more than 100 million pounds of added sugar nationwide in a single year compared with 15 years earlier, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
The United States has seen average annual temperatures rise about 2.2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.2 degrees Celsius) since 1895, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Added sugars are a documented driver of obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and sugary drinks are the leading source of added sugar in U.S. diets, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
For the recent study, the research team compared regional weather records—temperature, humidity and wind—to detailed shopping records from roughly 40,000 to 60,000 U.S. households from 2004 to 2019.
The authors reported that from about 54 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit, the average American’s added-sugar intake rose by roughly 0.4 grams per degree Fahrenheit daily; intake rose from a bit over 2 grams at 54 degrees Fahrenheit to more than 15 grams at 86 degrees Fahrenheit.
The effect was not uniform: Men increased sugary soft-drink consumption more than women; outdoor workers and households with lower income or lower educational attainment showed severalfold larger temperature-linked increases than wealthier, more-educated households; and the change varied by race and ethnicity in the data set.
Researchers estimated that, under continued warming, per-person added sugar could rise substantially by the end of the century if emissions remain high, with the largest effects concentrated in vulnerable groups.
What People Are Saying
Dr. Courtney Howard, vice chair of the Global Climate and Health Alliance and an emergency room physician, said in the AP report: “It should concern us that the rate of the impact is larger in households where people make less money or are less educated. These groups tend to have lower baseline health status, so this is an area where climate-related changes appear to magnify existing health inequalities.”
Study co-author Duo Chan, climate scientist at the University of Southampton, said in the AP report: “Climate change is shaping what you eat and how you eat and that might have a bad effect on your health. People tend to take in more sweetened beverages as the temperature is getting higher and higher. Obviously under a warming climate that would cause you to drink more or take in more sugar. And that is going to be a severe problem when it comes to health.”
What Happens Next
As the world’s climate continues to warm, He told Newsweek, improved health education programs could help in reducing sugar consumption.
“It’s important for people to [realize] the health risks that sugar can bring about,” He said.
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