FRIDAY, Feb. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Heavy consumption of soft drinks is linked to an increased risk of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to a study published in the February issue of Respirology.
Zumin Shi, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Adelaide in Australia, and colleagues collected data using a risk factor surveillance system. Each month, a representative sample of South Australians were randomly selected from the electronic White Pages for interviews using computer-assisted telephone interviewing.
The researchers found that, among 16,907 participants 16 years of age or older, 11.4 percent reported daily soft drink consumption of more than half a liter. High levels of soft drink consumption were positively linked with asthma and COPD. Overall, 13.3 percent of participants with asthma and 15.6 percent of those with COPD reported drinking more than half a liter of a soft drink per day. After adjusting for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, the odds ratio (OR) for asthma was 1.26 (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.01 to 1.58) and the OR for COPD was 1.79 (95 percent CI, 1.32 to 2.43) among those consuming more than a half-liter of a soft drink daily compared with those not consuming soft drinks.
"There was a positive association between consumption of soft drinks and asthma/COPD among adults living in South Australia," the authors write.
Abstract
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