Cognitive and home environmental predictors of change in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among adolescents

Abstract

beverage (SSB) consumption may increase risk for unnecessary weight gain. To develop interventions discouraging consumption, more insight is needed about cognitive and environmental predictors related to the decrease in SSB consumption. The present paper aims (1) to describe the relationship between potential cognitive determinants of change (attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and intentions) and perceived environmental factors (family food rule and home availability of SSB) with changes in SSB consumption between baseline and 4-month follow-up and (2) to study whether the relationships between the environmental factors and SSB consumption are mediated by the cognitive determinants. Information on possible predictors and SSB intake at baseline and 4-month follow-up was provided by 348 Dutch adolescents (aged 12-13 years) through online questionnaires that were completed at school. Multilevel logistic regression and mediation analyses were used to determine direct and indirect associations between predictors and behaviour. The present results show that a high perceived behavioural control to decrease intake at baseline was associated with a decrease in consumption of SSB between baseline and follow-up (OR ¼ 0·53). Low availability and a stricter family food rule were associated with a decrease in SSB consumption between baseline and follow-up (OR ¼ 2·39, 0·54). The association between availability and decrease in SSB consumption was for 68 % mediated by perceived behavioural control to drink less. In conclusion, interventions to decrease SSB intake should focus on improving attitudes and perceived behavioural control to reduce intake, and on limiting home availability and stimulating stricter family food rules regarding SSB consumption.Adolescents: Determinants: Sugar-sweetened beverages: Soft drinks: Environment Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) intake has been associated with an increased risk for overweight and obesity (1,2) . High SSB intake is very common among adolescents (3 -6) . Estimates range from half to one litre of soft drink consumption on average per day (3 -5) with a frequency of almost 5 d per week (6) . In the past decades, there has been an increase in SSB consumption among adolescents worldwide (5,7,8) . Therefore, to prevent the development of overweight and obesity among adolescents, decreasing the consumption of SSB is an important target in behavioural interventions. To be able to develop effective interventions aimed at lowering SSB intake, a detailed understanding of the determinants of this specific behaviour among adolescents is needed (9) . Specifically, more knowledge about the determinants of improving a behaviour (e.g. decreased SSB consumption) as opposed to determinants of a healthy behaviour (e.g. little SSB consumption) is needed.The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) is one of the most widely used models in studying potential determinants of health behaviours, including dietary behaviours (10) . The theory postulates that a behaviour is predicted by an in...

Adolescent television viewing and unhealthy snack food consumption: the mediating role of home availability of unhealthy snack foods

“…Such findings add to previous research highlighting the important role of food availability within the home (24,50) . It has long been known from behaviour modification studies that environmental manipulation, such as food visibility and availability, can have potent effects on behaviour (51) .…”

Problem Behavior, Victimization, and Soda Intake in High School Students

“…Although limited information exists on whether attitudes about substance use and soda intake cluster in families, recent research has shown that parents and peers influence adolescent substance use 36 as well as calorically sweetened beverage intake. 37,38 Adolescents whose parents have favorable attitudes for alcohol, tobacco, and other drug uses or adolescents whose friends use drugs are more likely to be involved in substance use. 36 In addition, adolescents without restrictive family food rules (ie, always allowed to drink calorically sweetened beverages) 38 or youth with misperceptions (mostly overestimation) of peer calorically sweetened beverage intakes are more likely to consume calorically sweetened beverages.…”

“…37,38 Adolescents whose parents have favorable attitudes for alcohol, tobacco, and other drug uses or adolescents whose friends use drugs are more likely to be involved in substance use. 36 In addition, adolescents without restrictive family food rules (ie, always allowed to drink calorically sweetened beverages) 38 or youth with misperceptions (mostly overestimation) of peer calorically sweetened beverage intakes are more likely to consume calorically sweetened beverages. 37 We were not able to find any published studies examining possible associations between being victimized and calorically sweetened beverage intake.…”

Health behavioral theories used to explain dietary behaviors in adolescents: a systematic review

“…The sample size varied from 100 [36] to 2746 [37]. The majority of the studies were conducted in the USA (5/17) [36,44,45,47,49] followed by The Netherlands (4/17) [39,41,43,48], representing 52.9% of the total. Other countries represented in the descriptive synthesis were in Norway [40,46], Sweden [50,52], Australia [51], Canada [38], and New Zealand [42].…”

“…Of the 17 studies, the majority (52.9%) examined sugar sweetened beverages intake (e.g., artificial juices-powder and nectar, sport energy drinks, soft drinks, and flavored milk) [36,37,39,[41][42][43][44]48], followed by fruit and vegetables intake (47.1%) (i.e., fresh, frozen, and/or canned) [37,38,42,45,47,49,50], four examined the consumption of sugar, fat, and/or sodium-rich snacks (e.g., cookies, fish and chips* [typical dish from Australia, New Zealand, and the UK], fried chicken, fried snacks [i.e., nuts, corn, and potato chips], pastries [e.g., tarts, baked snacks, cakes], hamburgers, pizza, sweets, and candies) [37,42,47,51], and only two (11.1%) examined breakfast items food intake (i.e., milk and bread [e.g., skim-, low-medium-, and full-fat milk, and highfiber bread]) [40,46]. It is important to highlight that four studies divided the food/beverages items into two categories: healthy/core foods and unhealthy/non-core foods [37,42,45,51].…”