Effect of School District Policy Change on Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Among High School Students, Boston, Massachusetts, 2004-2006

Details

• Journal Article:
  Preventing Chronic Disease (PCD)
• Personal Author:
  Cradock, Angie L. ; McHugh, Anne ; Mont-Ferguson, Helen ; Grant, Linda ; Barrett, Jessica L. ; Gortmaker, Steven L. ; Wang, Claire
• Description:
  Introduction ; Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has increased among youth in recent decades, accounting for approximately 13% of total calories consumed. The Boston Public Schools passed a policy restricting sale of sugar-sweetened beverages in Boston schools in June 2004. The objective of this study was to determine whether high school students' consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages declined after this new policy was implemented. ; Methods ; We conducted a quasi-experimental evaluation by using data on consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages by public high school students who participated in the Boston Youth Survey during February through April 2004 and February through April 2006 (N = 2,033). We compared the observed change with national trends by using data from the 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Regression methods were adjusted for student demographics. ; Results ; On average, Boston's public high school students reported daily consumption of 1.71 servings of sugar-sweetened beverages in 2004 and 1.38 servings in 2006. Regression analyses showed significant declines in consumption of soda (−0.16 servings), other sugar-sweetened beverages (−0.14 servings), and total sugar-sweetened beverages (−0.30 servings) between 2004 and 2006 (P < .001 for all). NHANES indicated no significant nationwide change in adolescents' consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages between 2003-2004 and 2005-2006. ; Discussion ; Data from Boston youth indicated significant reductions in consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, which coincided with a policy change restricting sale of sugar-sweetened beverages in schools. Nationally, no evidence was found for change in consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages among same-aged youth, indicating that implementing policies that restrict the sale of sugar-sweetened beverages in schools may be a promising strategy to reduce adolescents' intake of unnecessary calories.
• Subjects:
  • Original Research
  • Adolescent
  • Beverages
  • Boston
  • Carbonated Beverages
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Dietary Sucrose
  • Food Dispensers, Automatic
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  More +
• Source:
  Prev Chronic Dis. 2011; 8(4).
• ISSN:
  1545-1151
• Pubmed ID:
  21672398
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC3136975
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  1U48DP001946/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHS/United States ; U48/DP000064/DP/NCCDPHP CDC HHS/United States
• Volume:
  8
• Issue:
  4
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/20591/cdc_20591_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 555.84 KB]
• Collection(s):
  Preventing Chronic Disease
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9a83efc50f8820d21577c6cbbd2f4f8c8fb05668e6f2a69170f74ba91ee602f8bf70ca2b98617892de3259d8083b162058375d74eb55bcc59fcdb40927d7c329