REVIEW article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Health and Nutrition
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1663238
This article is part of the Research TopicEating Behavior and Chronic Diseases: Research Evidence from Population Studies, Volume IIView all 18 articles
A Narrative Review on the Relationship between Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Post-Partum Non-Communicable Diseases among Women
Provisionally accepted
Zoha Imtiaz Malik1
Syed Hassan Bin Usman Shah2Saira Zafar1
Umar Farooq3*Juweria Abid3*
Abdul Momin Rizwan Ahmad4*- 1Health Services Academy, Islamabad, Pakistan
- 2University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
- 3National University of Medical Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
- 4University of York, York, United Kingdom
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Abstract Recent years have seen an increased trend in the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), which have been associated with weight gain and retention. These effects are also observed in women of reproductive ages, especially during the post-partum period, which enhances their risk of developing several non-communicable diseases later in life. The current narrative review aims to explore the relationship between SSBs consumption and post-partum weight gain and retention, by evaluating results garnered from observational and interventional studies, and reviews done previously on this topic. Literature search on Google Scholar and PubMed using the appropriate key words identified 8653 articles, which after adjustment for timeline (2017 – 2025), and title, abstract and text screening for eligibility, resulted in 32 articles being selected. Evidence from the included articles suggests that SSBs result in weight gain due to their high caloric content, role in metabolic dysregulation and hormonal disruptions, exacerbating poor dietary intake and, increased blood glucose levels which ultimately lead to higher adiposity, both of which are risk factors for chronic diseases. Recommended solutions to reduce SSB intake in all population groups, particularly reproductive age women, include educational campaigns, SSB awareness using media, regulating SSBs sales through taxes and access policies, and making safe water available for the public. This review highlights the need to further delve into SSBs' impacts on health and to focus on developing strategies to reduce their access and availability on a mass level. Barriers towards effective implementation of SSB regulation strategies also need to be addressed for more efficient and effective results.
Keywords: sugar-sweetened beverages, Non-communicable diseases, Post-partum, Weight Gain, Weight retention, diabetes, Mental Health, cardiovascular disease
Received: 10 Jul 2025; Accepted: 30 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Malik, Shah, Zafar, Farooq, Abid and Ahmad. 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:
Umar Farooq, umar.farooq@numspak.edu.pk
Juweria Abid, juweria.abid@numspak.edu.pk
Abdul Momin Rizwan Ahmad, abdul.momin@york.ac.uk
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