Non-nutritive sweetened beverages versus water after a 52-week weight management programme: a randomised controlled trial.

"Competing interests JAH reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study. Outside of the submitted work, she reports a grant from the European Commission for the Horizon 2020 project SWEET. SH reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study. CR reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study. PThomas reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study. PThorp reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study. CAH reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study. Outside of the submitted work, she reports honoraria from the International Sweeteners Association and International Food Information Council (paid to the University of Liverpool); grants from the European Commission for the Horizon 2020 project SWEET, the Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council and the Natural Environment Research Council; personal fees for her role on the Food Standards Agency Advisory Committee on Social Sciences; and an unpaid role as a trustee of Feeding Liverpool. PC reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study. Outside of the submitted work, he reports grants from the European Commission for the Horizon 2020 project SWEET, the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the Home Office UK and the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and personal fees from Kaplan. JCGH reports funding (paid to the University of Liverpool) from the American Beverage Association for the present study. Outside of the submitted work, he reports a grant from the European Commission for the Horizon 2020 project SWEET; consultancy fees from Boehringer Ingelheim, Dupont and Mars (all paid to the University of Leeds); honoraria from Novo Nordisk (paid to the University of Leeds); support for attending meetings from Novo Nordisk; financial support for participation in an advisory board for Dupont (paid to the University of Leeds); unpaid participation in an advisory board for the Sweet Tooth Project; and unpaid board membership of the European Coalition of People Living with Obesity. He is the President of the European Association for the Study of Obesity."

"Funding This trial was funded by the American Beverage Association. The American Beverage Association was not involved in the design, conduct or interpretation of this trial; a representative from the American Beverage Association was provided with the opportunity to review the manuscript. Final decisions regarding the content were retained by the authors. The manuscript was developed with the assistance of a medical writer, funded by the American Beverage Association, under the direction of the authors. A third-party organisation (Biofortis) audited data at the clinical site to check for the accuracy and integrity of the data."

"Clinical trial registration This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02591134"