Objective This study aimed to provide the most recent national estimates for beverage consumption among children and adults in the United States. Methods Dietary data were collected from 18,600 children aged 2 to 19 years and from 27,652 adults aged ≥ 20 years in the 2003 to 2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Total beverage and sugar‐sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption was measured by 24‐hour dietary recall. Results From 2003 to 2014, per capita consumption of all beverages declined significantly among children (473.8‐312.6 calories; P < 0.001) and adults (425.0‐341.1 calories; P < 0.001). In the 2013‐2014 survey, 60.7% of children and 50.0% of adults drank SSBs on a given day, which is significantly lower than 2003‐2004, when 79.7% of children and 61.5% of adults reported drinking SSBs. From 2003 to 2014, per capita consumption of SSBs declined from 224.6 calories to 132.5 calories (P < 0.001) for children and from 190.4 calories to 137.6 calories (P < 0.001) for adults. The absolute levels for the percentage of SSB drinkers and per capita consumption of SSBs were highest among black, Mexican American, and non‐Mexican Hispanic children, adolescents, and young adults for all years of the study. Conclusions Overall, beverage and SSB consumption declined for children and adults from 2003 to 2014. The levels of consumption are highest among black, Mexican American, and non‐Mexican Hispanic participants.

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Introduction Expanding Medicaid coverage to low-income adults may have increased smoking cessation through improved access to evidence-based treatments. Our study sought to determine if states’ decisions to expand Medicaid increased recent smoking cessation. Methods Using pooled cross-sectional data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey for the years 2011–2015, we examined the association between state Medicaid coverage and the probability of recent smoking cessation among low-income adults without dependent children who were current or former smokers (n=36,083). We used difference-in-differences estimation to examine the effects of Medicaid coverage on smoking cessation, comparing low-income adult smokers in states with Medicaid coverage to comparable adults in states without Medicaid coverage, with ages 18–64 years to those ages>=65 years. Analyses were conducted for the full sample and stratified by sex. Results Residence in a state with Medicaid coverage among low-income adult smokers ages 18–64 years was associated with an increase in recent smoking cessation of 2.1 percentage points (95%CI: 0.25, 3.9). In the comparison group of individuals ages>=65 years, residence in a state with Medicaid coverage expansion was not associated with a change in recent smoking cessation (−0.1 percentage point, 9% CI: −2.1, 1.8). Similar increases in smoking cessation among those ages 18–64 years were estimated for females and males (1.9 and 2.2 percentage-point, respectively). Conclusion Findings are consistent with the hypothesis that Medicaid coverage expansions may have increased smoking cessation among low-income adults without dependent children via greater access to preventive healthcare services, including evidence-based smoking cessation services.

Online media content about prenatal and postpartum marijuana use presented health risks consistent with evidence, and discussed a health benefit of marijuana use for nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. Portrayal of risks and benefits was somewhat equivocal, consistent with current scientific debate.