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Table 3 Childhood Asthma Risk according to Beverage Consumption, The National Children’s Study

From: Excess free fructose, apple juice, high fructose corn syrup and childhood asthma risk – the National Children’s Study

Incident Asthmaa

Cox Proportional Hazards Model

1

IR per 1000

Persontime years

Cases /1000 /year

Cox Proportional Hazards Model 2

Cox Proportional Hazards Model 3

Hazard Ratio

95% CI

p-value

Hazard Ratio

95% CI

p-value

Hazard Ratio

95% CI

p-value

 

HR –adjusted for sex, age, overweight, race/ethnicity, fruit/ vegetable intake

   

HR – further adjusted for hours exposed to in-door smoke, fast food intake

HR – further adjusted for mother’s education level

ttlEFFb–any combination (Soda /Sports/Fruit drinks & 100% Juices)

n = 2097, # of observations = 4193

   

n = 1833, # of observations = 3665

n = 1791, # of observations = 3581

  ≤ 2.5 /wk

Reference -------

20

1140

18

Reference -------

Reference -------

 3 /wk

1.44

0.71–3.49

0.367

9

361

25

1.86

0.82–4.23

0.137

1.36

0.52–3.02

0.501

 4–7 /wk

1.95

1.15–3.63

0.022*

28

799

35

2.29

1.25–4.22

0.008**

2.24

1.16–3.92

0.010*

  > 1 & 2 /day

2.81

1.69–5.19

0.0003**

34

663

51

3.01

1.65–5.52

0.0003*

2.84

1.48–4.95

0.0008**

  > 2 /day

3.59

2.19–6.60

0.000004***

40

636

63

3.62

1.98–6.62

0.00003***

3.24

1.69–5.67

0.0002***

100% Juicesc

n = 2094, #of observations = 4187

n = 1830, # of observations = 3659

n = 1790, # of observations = 3575

  ≤ 2.5 /wk

Reference -------

43

1967

22

Reference -------

Reference --------

 3–7 /wk

1.44

0.94–2.21

0.097∞

41

1250

33

1.56

1.00–2.44

0.049*

1.63

1.04–2.56

0.033*

  > once /day

2.19

1.44–3.32

0.0002**

47

974

48

1.87

1.18–2.95

0.008**

1.82

1.14–2.92

0.013*

Soda/Sports/Fruit drinks

 

n = 2097, # of observations = 4193

n = 1833, # of observations = 3665

n = 1791, # of observations = 3581

  ≤ 2.5 /wk

Reference -------

95

3051

31

Reference -------

Reference -------

 3–7 /wk

1.99

1.20–3.30

0.008**

20

357

56

2.08

1.20–3.60

0.009*

2.03

1.17–3.53

0.012*

  > once /day

2.90

1.67–5.05

0.0002**

16

190

84

2.83

1.54–5.22

0.0008**

2.57

1.38–4.79

0.003*

  1. Cox regression hazard ratios (HR), their 95% confidence intervals and p values are shown. Significant associations are denoted with asterisks. Multiple asterisks denote highly significant associations. Associations that approached significance are denoted by the ∞ symbol. a Asthma refers to the first incidence of asthma as self-reported during the 18 and 24 month exams. b ttlEFF refers to intake frequency of any combination of high fructose corn syrup sweetened soft drinks/sports/fruit drinks and 100% juice. c Juice types were not distinguished. The most consumed juice by children < 5 years of age is apple juice, and apple juice is widely used as a main ingredient/sweetener in 100% juice blends marketed to children [42, 43]. Per capita apple juice consumption doubled from 1980 to 2010 [44]. During the study period, HFCS was the main sweetener in US soda [30]. Many varieties of fruit drinks are sweetened with HFCS and apple juice. The fructose to glucose ratio in apple juice is ≥2:1.[32]In HFCS sweetened soft drinks the ratio has been measured as 1.5:1 for HFCS with 60% fructose [34] and 1.9:1 for HFCS with 65% fructose [33] – higher than the 1.2:1 ratio that is generally recognized as safe [35].