By Judith Tan

GRANNY was right when she said that drinking too many sodas and sweet drinks was bad for you.

Taking two or more soft drinks a week can increase one's risk of type 2 diabetes, a new study by Singapore scientists has found.

They are 30 to 40 per cent more likely to contract diabetes compared to those who rarely consumed them, said Associate Professor Koh Woon Puay of the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.

The beverages surveyed included soda and fruit and vegetable juices in a glass, can or fresh from hawker centres, and it did not distinguish between 100 per cent juice and juice drinks or cordial.

Participants with a higher intake of soft drinks were younger, mostly men with higher body mass indexes (BMI) and leading sedentary lifestyles. Those who drank more juice were also younger and were men, with higher levels of physical activity and were educated.

The findings are from the Singapore Chinese Health Study of more than 61,000 ethnic Chinese living here, aged between 45 and 74.

Another study of the same cohort, published earlier this month, said that too many soft drinks put a person at risk of pancreatic cancer, but those who drank mostly fruit juice instead of carbonated drinks did not have the same risk.

The Singapore Chinese Health Study was conducted by the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine in the National University of Singapore, in collaboration with research scientists from several US institutions.

Supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute in the United States, it began in April 1993 when the subjects were diabetes-free.