## 4 Discussion  
The present study was aimed to examine the association between SSBs consumption and the components of MetS among Ellisras young adults aged 22-30 years. The current study found that the consumption of SSBs was closely associated with reduced risk of high TG in both males and females in the highest SSBs quartiles. The highest SSBs quartile was significantly associated with increased risk of high FBG. However, a non-linear trend was observed with increasing SSBs quartile categories. Additionally, both the lower and higher SSB quartiles were significantly associated with a low risk of reduced HDL-C, and a fluctuating trend across the SSBs quartile categories was found. Moreover, high WC was significantly associated with the SSB quartiles only in the linear trend association. The presents study's findings are partly in accordance with those reported in previous studies. Previous studies have reported that higher consumption or the highest SSBs quartile consumption was significantly associated with a higher incidence of obesity, MetS, and its components, which include hypertriacylglycerglycerolaemia, central obesity/increased WC, impaired fasting glucose, high blood pressure/hypertension, and low HDL-C compared to lower SSBs intake or with the first (lower) SSBs quartile category [14; 15; 16]. Subsequently, in the study by [PERSON] et al. [16], it was reported that the odds of MetS and its components indicated an increasing trend across the increasing SSBs quartiles. However, this contradicts the findings of the current study, where a non-linear trend in the SSBs quartile categories was observed, suggesting association or potential to cause risk of MetS and its components or related diseases following consumption of smaller quantities of SSBs. The latter results confirm the previous report indicating evidence of a non-linear trend between SSBs consumption and MetS, whereby it does not always follow a dose-response relationship [33]. Moreover, the current study did not find an association of SSBs consumption with high SBP, high DBP and high WC. There are a few potential reasons that might explain these different findings. First, different study populations, sample sizes, study designs, the manner in which SSBs were assessed, and age groups might partly provide reasons for contradictory findings in the studies. Second, it has been reported that the activities that are mainly practised in rural areas include herding of livestock, doing agricultural activities, and walking long distances to fetch firewood and water [23], which might have contributed as a form of physical activity. Physical activity has been reported to contribute to increased energy expenditure, which is vital in maintaining a healthy, balanced body weight [34], as well as using the excess energy provided by the consumption of SSBs. On the other hand, physical activity improves insulin sensitivity and lipid profile, and thereby protects against diseases such as those that are linked with increased body weight, SBP and DBP [35; 36]. The low risk induced by the consumption of SSBs on the development of some MetS components in the present study could be attributed to the types of SSBs that were mostly consumed by Ellisras young adults, which included fruit juices, tea, coffee with full cream milk or powdered milk. However, the latter SSBs types have been reported to be the second-most frequently consumed SSBs in both urban and rural areas of South Africa [37; 38]. Moreover, those SSBs types have been reported to contain ingredients such as antioxidants, fibres, proteins, vitamins (A, B12 and riboflavin) and minerals (calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, and zinc), among other things, which have been reported to be protective against adverse health effects [39]. Few probable mechanisms that can partly explain the association between SSBs consumption and MetS components are indicated below.