Global warming in the United States is amping up the country's sweet tooth, a new study found.

When the temperature rises, Americans—especially those who are poor or have less education—drink lots more sugary beverages and a bit more frozen desserts. That amounts to more than 100 million pounds of added sugar (358 million kilograms) consumed in the nation a year, compared to the past, according to a team of researchers in the U.S. and the United Kingdom.

“Climate change is shaping what you eat and how you eat, and that might have a bad effect on your health,” said study co-author Duo Chan, a climate scientist at the University of Southampton.

“Obviously, under a warming climate, that would cause you to drink more or take in more sugar. And that is going to be a severe problem when it comes to health,” Chan said.

Sugar consumption can vary with gender, income and education.

University of California, San Francisco endocrinology professor Dr. Robert Lustig said sugary drinks are marketed and priced in a way to attract the poor. And in many disadvantaged communities, the water tastes funny because of chemicals in it. There's also less air conditioning for the poor, and they are more likely to work outside and need more hydration, Lustig and Pan He, an environmental scientist at Cardiff University, said.

“It should concern us that the rate of the impact is larger in households where people make less money or are less educated,” said Dr. Courtney Howard, vice chair of the Global Climate and Health Alliance. “These groups tend to have lower baseline health status, so this is an area where climate-related changes appear to magnify existing health inequalities.”

The amount of sugar consumed is likely to soar in the future with more warming, Chan said.

But University of Washington health and climate scientist Kristie Ebi said, as temperatures increase with human-caused climate change, “there will be other issues of more importance than a small increase in sugary beverages.”

This article was provided by The Associated Press.