Visek Amanda J, Blake Emily F, Otterbein Melissa, Chandran Avinash, Sylvetsky Allison C
Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20052.
Matthew Gfeller Sport-Related TBI Research Center, Department of Exercise and Sport Science, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599.
Curr Dev Nutr. 2018 Dec 24;3(4):nzy103. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzy103. eCollection 2019 Apr.
The extent to which low-calorie sweeteners (LCSs) are helpful or harmful for weight management and metabolic health is unclear, because LCS effects may depend on the context in which they are consumed.
To develop a conceptual framework for LCS consumption.
Young adults ages 18-35 y, who reported LCS consumption, were recruited from a private, urban, university in the mid-Atlantic United States. Concept mapping, a mixed-method approach was used to identify, organize, and quantify determinants of LCS consumption. First, participants ( = 68) identified reasons for their LCS consumption through brainstorming; content analysis of those reasons identified 37 specific determinants of LCS consumption. Second, participants ( = 93) sorted all 37 determinants conceptually. Third, participants ( = 97) rated the extent to which each of the 37 determinants was reflective of their own consumption. Similarity matrices, multidimensional scaling, and hierarchical cluster analysis produced a series of 2-dimensional concept maps (SWEET MAPS).
The SWEET MAPS identified 37 determinants, organized within 8 factors reflective of 3 overarching motives: perceived health benefits, palatability, and accessibility of LCSs. At the determinant level, the most highly rated determinants that exceeded the boundary (rating >3.0) were: "I want something that tastes sweet," "I am trying to maintain/control my weight," "They contain fewer calories," "They are available," and "I want to save calories because I am eating a high-calorie meal."
LCS consumption is a function of many inter-related determinants spanning biological, psychological, and social domains. The SWEET MAPS are an important and novel use of concept mapping methods that can be used to inform the design and interpretation of future studies evaluating LCS effects.
低热量甜味剂（LCSs）对体重管理和代谢健康有益还是有害尚不清楚，因为LCSs的影响可能取决于其食用的背景。
建立一个关于LCSs消费的概念框架。
从美国大西洋中部一所私立城市大学招募了18 - 35岁报告食用LCSs的年轻人。采用概念映射这一混合方法来识别、组织和量化LCSs消费的决定因素。首先，参与者（n = 68）通过头脑风暴确定他们食用LCSs的原因；对这些原因进行内容分析，确定了37个LCSs消费的具体决定因素。其次，参与者（n = 93）对所有37个决定因素进行概念分类。第三，参与者（n = 97）对37个决定因素中每个因素反映其自身消费的程度进行评分。相似性矩阵、多维尺度分析和层次聚类分析产生了一系列二维概念图（SWEET MAPS）。
SWEET MAPS确定了37个决定因素，这些因素组织在8个反映3个总体动机的因素中：感知到的健康益处、适口性和LCSs的可获得性。在决定因素层面，评分超过界限（评分>3.0）的最高评分决定因素是：“我想要吃起来甜的东西”、“我试图维持/控制体重”、“它们含有的热量较少”、“它们容易获得”以及“因为我正在吃高热量的食物，所以我想节省热量”。
LCSs消费是跨越生物、心理和社会领域的许多相互关联的决定因素的函数。SWEET MAPS是概念映射方法的一种重要且新颖的应用，可用于为评估LCSs影响的未来研究的设计和解释提供信息。
