ArticleThe Journal of nutrition2026
Genetic and Environmental Influences on Free Sugar and Nonnutritive Sweetener Intake in Toddlerhood and Middle Childhood Using Data from the Gemini Twin Cohort: Findings from the SWEET Project.
Article in The Journal of nutrition, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundExceeding recommended free sugar (FS) intake is linked to poorer metabolic health. Nonnutritive sweeteners (NNS) offer an alternative to FS, and emerging evidence suggests that many children regularly consume them. Understanding the etiology of variation in FS and NNS intake in childhood can inform population-level strategies to reduce sugar consumption.
objectivesThis study aimed to examine genetic and environmental influences on variation in FS and NNS intakes in toddlerhood and middle childhood, and investigate stability and change over time.
methodsFS (as % energy intake) and NNS (categorized as non-, low-, and high consumers) were estimated using 3-d dietary data at 21 mo (n = 2592) with repeated measures in a subsample at 7 y (n = 592) from British twins in the Gemini cohort. Longitudinal Cholesky twin models estimated genetic and environmental influences on FS and NNS intakes at both ages.
resultsShared environmental factors strongly influenced both FS and NNS intakes at 21 mo [FS: 0.88; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.86, 0.90; NNS: 0.99; 95% CI: 0.99, 1] and 7 y (FS: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.45, 0.69; NNS: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.86, 1), but the effect decreased significantly over time for FS. There was no significant genetic influence on NNS at either age; genetic influence on FS intake increased significantly from toddlerhood (FS: 0.09; 95% CI: 0.08, 0.11) to middle childhood (FS: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.22, 0.47). Small longitudinal correlations indicated greater change than stability in intakes over time for FS (r = 0.28, P < 0.001) and NNS (r = 0.35, P < 0.001), explained predominantly by novel shared environmental influences in middle childhood and the emergence of novel genetic influence on FS.
conclusionsShared environmental factors predominantly shape individual differences in FS and NNS intake during early life. Although increasing genetic influence from toddlerhood to middle childhood reflects growing autonomy in dietary choices for FS intake, variation in NNS intake remains overwhelmingly environmentally driven across both developmental periods. Findings emphasize the need for both age-specific public health interventions and food industry legislation to shape FS and NNS intakes in childhood.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.