Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages in People with Severe Mental Illness: A Community-Based Cohort Study

Excess mortality in mentally ill is largely due to high rates of physical illnesses that lead to worse health outcomes. This study examines the intake of added sugar from sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and factors associated with poor mental and physical health in people with severe mental illness.

Data were collected as part of the standard care of consumers attending the Collaborative Centre for Cardiometabolic Health in Psychosis clinics where a diet history is taken by a dietitian. SSBs and tea/coffee with added sugars consumed in the past seven days were collected.

Overall, 1648 occasions of service comprising 1142 consumers (mean age 45.0 ± 12.5 years, 63.5% males) were seen. Of these, 1234 (74.9%) occasions of service were provided by a dietitian. Two-thirds (n = 840) self-reported to have consumed one or more SSBs or tea/coffee with sugar. Over half 697 (56.5%) consumed one or more SSBs and 437 (35.4%) tea/coffee with sugar. The mean daily consumption of added sugar from SSBs and tea/coffee was 86.2 g/day. On multivariable analysis, males, those diagnosed with schizophrenia, being on Olanzapine ± other antipsychotics and lower socio-economic status were statistically associated with consumption of added sugar.

Consumption of added sugars from SSBs in consumers of community mental health services is four times higher than the general population. This is an underestimation of the total intake of added sugars without other contributors from discretionary foods. Measuring consumption of SSBs may be an easy-to-use proxy for assessing dietary risk when dietitians are not available.