REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition Methodology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1667487
Measuring sugar intake in oral health birth cohort studies: a scoping review
Provisionally accepted
Shilpa Sarawagi1*
Karla Gambetta-Tessini1
Silas Alves-Costa2
Marly Augusto Cardoso3
Gustavo G. Nascimento1
Karen G. Peres1- 1National Dental Centre Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- 2Universidade Federal do Maranhao, São Luís, Brazil
- 3Universidade de Sao Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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Numerous reviews have explored the relationship between sugar intake and various health conditions, with specific recommendations for sugar intake thresholds in medical and dental research. However, heterogeneity in dietary assessment methods used to measure sugar intake has posed challenges. This scoping review aimed to identify and map the methods assessing sugar intake in oral health birth cohort studies (OHBCS). Using the Population-Concept-Context framework, the review included participants in OHBCS, dietary assessment methods measuring sugar intake associated with oral health outcomes from studies conducted worldwide. Data from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus and Dentistry & Oral Sciences Source were searched until June 2025, with no date and language restrictions. Articles from a previous OHBCS scoping review and its three-year update were also included. From 2,297 screened articles, 34 studies representing 24 OHBCS across 13 countries (77% from high-income countries) met the inclusion criteria. Dietary assessment methods to assess sugar intake identified included Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ, n=11), non-specific questionnaires (n=9), food lists (n=7), food diary (n=7), 24-h recall (n=5) and structured interviews (n=1). Methods of estimating sugar intake varied, with frequency (n=19) being most common, followed by quantity (n=11), number of sugar items introduced (n=9), energy (n=3) and percentage of sugar consumption (n=2). Different types of dietary sugars were assessed, including intrinsic sugars (n=5), milk sugars (n=14) and free sugars (n=34). FFQs emerged as the most frequently used sugar intake assessment method, with a focus on intake frequency. This review highlights a significant lack of standardization in sugar intake assessment across studies, underscoring the need for a unified approach to guide early interventions, inform dietary recommendations, and enhance comparability in future OHBCS research.
Keywords: dietary assessment, Sugar intake, Sugar-sweetened beverage, Birth cohort studies, oral health outcomes
Received: 16 Jul 2025; Accepted: 09 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sarawagi, Gambetta-Tessini, Alves-Costa, Cardoso, Nascimento and Peres. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Shilpa Sarawagi, shilpa@nus.edu.sg
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