Associations between sugar-sweetened beverage consumption, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity duration and psychological symptoms in adolescents: A nationwide study in China

Abstract

Background

The prevalence of psychological symptoms among adolescents continues to increase. Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) duration are associated with psychological symptoms, respectively. However, few national studies have been conducted in developing countries, and there is a lack of research on the association between the combined effects of SSB consumption and MVPA duration and psychological symptoms in adolescents.

Methods

In this study, 50,222 adolescents aged 12–18 years nationwide in China were assessed cross-sectionally for SSB consumption, MVPA duration, psychological symptoms, and basic participant characteristics using stratified whole-cluster random sampling in 2023. The associations of SSB consumption, MVPA duration, and psychological symptoms were analyzed using nonparametric tests, t-tests, logistic regression analyses, and ordered logistic regression analyses with generalized linear models.

Results

The prevalence of psychological symptoms among Chinese adolescents is 20.1 %. The proportion of adolescents with SSB consumption >4 times/week was 14.8 %. The results of ordered logistic regression analysis showed that the adolescents in the group with SSB consumption <1 times/week and MVPA duration >60 min/day were used as the reference group， adolescents in the group with SSB consumption >4 times/week and MVPA duration <30 min/day had the highest risk (OR = 2.28, 95 % CI: 1.98–2.64) of the prevalence of psychological symptoms (P < 0.001). The same trend was observed in boys and girls.

Conclusions

SSB consumption, MVPA duration, and psychological symptoms were associated with each other in Chinese adolescents. Increasing SSB consumption and decreasing MVPA duration will lead to an increase in the prevalence of psychological symptoms in adolescents. In the future, SSB consumption and MVPA duration should be effectively controlled to reduce the prevalence of psychological symptoms and to promote the physical and mental health of Chinese adolescents.