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.
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.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
1
Graphic images of the amount of sugar (randomly assigned teaspoons, packets, or cubes) and text warning labels
Calories for sugar-sweetened and non-sugar-sweetened beverages
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Total beverage calories purchased for the child
Total number of calories for all beverages purchased for the child during the study visit
Time frame: Study visit, one hour
Total calories purchased for the child
Total number of calories for all food and beverages (summed) purchased for the child during the study visit
Time frame: Study visit, one hour
Total calories the child consumes
Total number of calories consumed by the child for all food and beverages (summed) during the study visit
Time frame: Study visit, one hour
Total beverage calories purchased for the adult
Total number of calories for all beverages purchased for the adult during the study visit
Time frame: Study visit, one hour
Total calories purchased for the adult
Total number of calories for all food and beverages (summed) purchased for the adult during the study visit
Time frame: Study visit, one hour
Beverage calories the child consumes
Total number of calories consumed by the child for all beverages during the study visit
Time frame: Study visit, one hour
Beverage calories the adult consumes
Total number of calories consumed by the adult for all beverages during the study visit
Time frame: Study visit, one hour
Total calories the adult consumes
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Total number of calories consumed by the adult for all food and beverages (summed) during the study visit
Time frame: Study visit, one hour