Food Preferences
Conditions
Keywords
Food labeling, Child, Sugar-sweetened beverages, Eating, Drinking, Choice behavior
Brief summary
Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are a significant contributor to adult and childhood obesity. Policies to place health warning labels on sugar-sweetened beverages are being pursued, but there is little empirical data on how such labels influence people. The proposed research will evaluate the impact of different types of sugar-sweetened beverage warning labels relative to standard calorie labels on the purchasing and consumption behaviors of parents and children.
Detailed description
The primary objective of this proposal is to determine, before wide-scale implementation, to what degree SSB warning labels increase consumers' knowledge about the potential health harms of SSBs and reduce SSB intake. The study is designed to answer two additional questions: 1) Do some warning labels work better than others? 3) If warning labels influence behavior, is it because they increase knowledge or simply provide a salient reminder that some drinks are less healthy? This aim is designed to test the effect of warning labels on total kilocalories (kcals) purchased and consumed by parents and children. We will examine how SSB warning labels influence snack and beverage purchases and intake among 405 racially and ethnically diverse parent-child pairs.
Interventions
Graphic images of the amount of sugar (randomly assigned teaspoons, packets, or cubes) and text warning labels
BEHAVIORALExposure to beverage calorie information
Calories for sugar-sweetened and non-sugar-sweetened beverages
Sponsors
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Drexel University
University of Connecticut
New York University
University of Delaware
University of Pennsylvania
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Subject)
Intervention model description
This randomized, controlled lab-based study will capture beverage and snack purchases from a concession stand and measure how much participants consume while watching a television show. Participants will be randomized to 1 of 3 groups: 1) calorie labels (control); 2) text warning labels; or 3) graphic warning labels displaying amounts of sugar.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
6 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Participant pairs must be: * Primary caregiver of a child 6-11 years old; 18 years or older; can read and speak English; did not participate in related studies from our group * Child is between 6 and 11 years old; drinks SSBs at least 12 times per month (\ 3 times per week)
Exclusion criteria
* Unable to participate in person in Philadelphia * Parent did not purchase food and beverage for their child * Parent or caregiver refused to give child permission to participate
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Total beverage calories purchased for the child | Study visit, one hour | Total number of calories for all beverages purchased for the child during the study visit |
| Total calories purchased for the child | Study visit, one hour | Total number of calories for all food and beverages (summed) purchased for the child during the study visit |
| Total calories the child consumes | Study visit, one hour | Total number of calories consumed by the child for all food and beverages (summed) during the study visit |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Beverage calories the adult consumes | Study visit, one hour | Total number of calories consumed by the adult for all beverages during the study visit |
| Total beverage calories purchased for the adult | Study visit, one hour | Total number of calories for all beverages purchased for the adult during the study visit |
| Total calories the adult consumes | Study visit, one hour | Total number of calories consumed by the adult for all food and beverages (summed) during the study visit |
| Total calories purchased for the adult | Study visit, one hour | Total number of calories for all food and beverages (summed) purchased for the adult during the study visit |
| Beverage calories the child consumes | Study visit, one hour | Total number of calories consumed by the child for all beverages during the study visit |
Other
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Sugary beverage categorical perception of amount of sugar | Study visit, 1 hour | Proportion of 4 sugary beverages coded as just right or too much vs. none or too little |
| Parent sugary beverage purchase intentions for the child | Study visit, 1 hour | Average of intentions for 4 sugary beverages (1 (not at all likely) - 5 (extremely likely)) |
| Non-sugary beverage categorical perception of amount of sugar | Study visit, 1 hour | Proportion of 3 non-sugary beverages coded as none vs. all other options |
| Parent non-sugary beverage purchase intentions for the child | Study visit, 1 hour | Average of intentions for 3 non-sugary beverages (1 (not at all likely) - 5 (extremely likely)) |
| Sugary beverage health beliefs and risk perceptions for the child | Study visit, 1 hour | Average of 9 summed items for 4 sugary beverages (1 (strongly disagree) - 5 (strongly agree)) |
| Non-sugary beverage health beliefs and risk perceptions for the child | Study visit, 1 hour | Average of 9 summed items for 3 non-sugary beverages (1 (strongly disagree) - 5 (agree)) |
| Sugary beverage accuracy of calorie knowledge | Study visit, 1 hour | Average of difference between actual calories in each item from the calories reported by participants across 4 sugary beverages (larger numbers = overestimation) |
| Non-sugary beverage accuracy of calorie knowledge | Study visit, 1 hour | Average of difference between actual calories in each item from the calories reported by participants across 3 non-sugary beverages (larger numbers = overestimation) |
| Sugary beverage accuracy of sugar knowledge | Study visit, 1 hour | Average of difference between actual teaspoons of sugar in each item from the number of teaspoons reported by participants across 4 sugary beverages (larger numbers = overestimation) |
| Non-sugary beverage accuracy of sugar knowledge | Study visit, 1 hour | Average of difference between actual teaspoons of sugar in each item from the number of teaspoons reported by participants across 3 non-sugary beverages (larger numbers = overestimation) |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed