Impact of sugar- and artificially sweetened beverages on bone health: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and network meta-analysis among children, adolescents, and adults
Pooled result · BMDResult — go to the resultβ −0.653 95% CI - 1.310 to 0.004Authors' conclusion
Selected comparisons involving higher SSB consumption, particularly cola-type beverages, were associated with higher fracture and osteoporosis/osteopenia estimates, whereas no beverage category was significantly associated with BMD. However, these observational associations do not establish causality. Certainty was very low for all primary outcomes, and the evidence regarding ASB was insufficient to support firm conclusions.
Study context
- Population
- Children, adolescents, and adults; studies of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) and artificially sweetened beverages (ASB) consumption and bone health identified in PubMed, Scopus, and ScienceDirect from inception to August 2025studies that met the inclusion criteria, 954 records screened · studies contributing to the quantitative synthesis 27
- Participants
- 41 children
- Comparison
- Beverage categories and consumption frequencies of SSB and ASB compared across bone health outcomes, relative to occasional/non-consumers
- Outcome
- BMD
Methodological detailsfrequentist random-effects framework, dose-response multilevel network meta-analysis (NMA), NIH/NHLBI Quality Assessment Tools, Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE)
- Frequentist random-effects framework
- Dose-response multilevel network meta-analysis (NMA)
- NIH/NHLBI Quality Assessment Tools
- GRADE
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
β
−0.653
95% CI - 1.310 to 0.004
Further pooled results
| Outcome | Estimate | |
|---|---|---|
| Fracture riskCARBONATED COLA/NON-COLA BEVERAGESvs OCCASIONAL/NON-CONSUMERS | log odds ratio (LOR) 0.442 (95% CI 0.184–0.699) | |
| Fracture riskCAFFEINATED CARBONATED COLA/NON-COLA BEVERAGESvs OCCASIONAL/NON-CONSUMERS | LOR 0.406 (95% CI 0.147–0.666) | |
| Fracture riskNON-CAFFEINATED CARBONATED COLA/NON-COLA BEVERAGESvs OCCASIONAL/NON-CONSUMERS | LOR 0.452 (95% CI 0.205–0.699) | |
| Fracture riskSUGAR-SWEETENED CARBONATED BEVERAGES/PACKAGED JUICESvs OCCASIONAL/NON-CONSUMERS | LOR 0.349 (95% CI 0.256–0.376) | |
| 0.10.31310Ratio (log scale) |
Osteoporosis/osteopenia
| LOR (95% CI) | ||
|---|---|---|
| CARBONATED COLAComparator not stated in this sentence | 1.017 (0.876–1.158) | |
| CARBONATED COLA/NON-COLA BEVERAGESComparator not stated in this sentence | 0.792 (0.731–0.852) | |
| 0.512Log odds ratio (log scale) |
GRADE certainty
- Very low for all three primary outcomes
Original publication
Impact of sugar- and artificially sweetened beverages on bone health: a systematic review, meta-analysis, and network meta-analysis among children, adolescents, and adults. Osteoporos Int. Published 4 November 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →