National trends in soft drink consumption among children and adolescents age 6 to 17 years: Prevalence, amounts, and sources, 1977/1978 to 1994/1998

• Published in: Journal of the American Dietetic Association 2003-10, Vol.103 (10), p.1326-1331
• Main Authors: French, Simone A., Lin, Biing-Hwan, Guthrie, Joanne F.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adolescent Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; adolescents; Beverages; Biological and medical sciences; Carbonated Beverages - statistics & numerical data; Carbonated Beverages - utilization; Child; Child Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; children; Diet; Drinking; Energy Intake; Feeding Behavior; Female; Human physiology applied to population studies and life conditions. Human ecophysiology; Humans; Interviews as Topic; Male; Medical sciences; national surveys; Nutrition Surveys; Nutritional survey. Food supply and nutritional requirement; Prevalence; soft drink intakes; soft drink sources; soft drinks; Teenagers; Trends; United States
• ISSN: 0002-8223; 2212-2672; 1878-3570; 2212-2680
• DOI: 10.1016/S0002-8223(03)01076-9

Trends between 1977/1978 and 1994/1998 in the prevalence, amounts, and sources of soft drink consumption were examined among youth age 6 to 17 years. Dietary intake data were examined from three national surveys: the Nationwide Food Consumption Survey 1977/1978 (n=8,908), and the combined Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals 1994/1996, and the Supplemental Children’s Survey 1998 (n=3,177). Soft drinks were defined as carbonated beverages (all United States Department of Agriculture database codes starting with 924) and included flavored waters and juice drinks. A national sample of youth ages 6 to 17 years were interviewed for each of the 3 surveys. t tests were conducted to examine between-survey changes in soft drink consumption and sources of soft drinks. The prevalence of soft drink consumption among youth ages 6 to 17 years increased 48%, from a prevalence of 37% in 1977/1978 to 56% in 1994/1998. Mean intake of soft drinks more than doubled, from 5 fl oz to 12 fl oz per day. Although the home environment remained the largest source of children’s soft drink access, an increasing share was obtained from restaurants and fast-food establishments (+53%), vending machines (+48%), and other sources (+37%). Away-from-home sources of soft drink are an important factor for dietitians to consider when evaluating the dietary intake and nutritional status of youths.