Community‐based interventions to reduce sugar intake in healthy populations: A systematic review

This study aimed to assess community-based interventions to decrease sugar intake among healthy people. According to PRISMA guidelines, in this systematic review, databases including PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, ProQuest, and Google Scholar were searched up to August 2021. Randomized clinical trials or quasi-experimental studies reporting the effect of community-based interventions to reduce sugar intake in general population were included. The quality of eligible studies was assessed using The Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Checklists. Our search strategy resulted in a total of 1384 articles out of which 59 articles were included in the study. Of 59 included studies, 48 studies reported significant decrease in sugar intake or intention to sugar sweetened beverages (SSBs) intake or purchasing SSBs. Of the 48 effective studies, 45 (93.7%) had a low risk of bias. Based on the results of low risk of bias studies, interventions performed in schools, household, and community were effective in reducing sugar intake. Almost all types of interventions (educational, multiple and changing in law) had the same effectiveness on reducing sugar intake. In addition, interventions which had a duration of 24-48 weeks were less successful than the others. Interventions with the repetition span of more than 1 month were less successful than the others. The application of multiple interventions appears to be the most effective approach to reducing sugar intake in healthy populations. However, long-term and well-designed future studies in different settings are recommended to confirm these results.