Assessment of consumption patterns of soft drinks and its impact on nutritional status among young adults of Kolkata

Soft drinks are non-alcoholic beverages that primarily consist of fruit juices and carbonated beverages. Soft drinks and other liquids with added sugar are viewed as unhealthy food items since they are high in calories but low in nutrients. India's populace continues to crave sugary soft drinks even as the rest of the globe is losing interest in these toxic beverages. The purpose of the present study was to determine the association between consumption of soft drinks and its impacts on nutritional status. This cross-sectional study was conducted among 100 younger adults, aged 20-30 years selected randomly from different social media resources based on Kolkata, West Bengal India. Present online survey was conducted on the basis of responses obtained from using pretested standardised questionnaires. The google forms were prepared and shared with the respondents. Social media platforms were used like Facebook, WhatsApp, LinkedIn. In the present study total 2% respondents were underweight,30% were normal and 68% respondents belonged to overweight/obesity.88% of respondents are aware about the unhealthy impact of soft drinks. Whereas considering practice 6% of the respondents drink soft drinks daily and 25% have it on a weekly basis.42% of the respondents prefers regular soft drinks whereas 46% prefers fruit flavoured cold drinks. Again 62% of the respondents prefers coloured soft drinks. Considering attitude of the respondents 12% of them still willing to have soft drinks even after knowing its ill effects on tooth enamel. Further studies using descriptive research designs are needed to better understand the prospective associations among beverage consumption and obesity in the age group of 20 to 30 years, who are the future of our country.