PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Metabolism
Non-sugar sweeteners (NSS) and children: The current picture and controversies
Provisionally accepted
- 1Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
- 2LAQV, REQUIMTE, Laboratory of Bromatology and Pharmacognosy, Coimbra, Portugal
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The global push to reduce childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes has increased the use of non-sugar sweeteners (NSS) as sugar alternatives. However, the long-term health effects of NSS in children remain debated, with inconsistent evidence supporting a precautionary approach. This perspective article critically reviews current knowledge, highlights research gaps, and questions the broader context of NSS use. There is general agreement that NSS use is inadvisable before age 3 and strongly discouraged up to age 5. Beyond this, uncertainties persist, especially regarding benefits and risks for children with overweight, obesity, or diabetes. A robust, long-term study on NSS exposure in children is urgently needed. Regulatory measures such as varied labelling, school restrictions, and taxes reflect the lack of unified scientific consensus and harmonised policies. To effectively protect children's health, global agreement and evidence-based guidelines on NSS use are essential.
Keywords: Non-nutritive sweeteners, Children, Non-communicable diseases, marketing andlabels, Health Literacy, policies
Received: 30 Jul 2025; Accepted: 27 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Angelina, Silva, Campos and Pereira. 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: Pena Angelina, apena@ff.uc.pt
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