Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Aug;100(8):1427-33.
doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2009.175687. Epub 2010 Jun 17.

Point-of-purchase price and education intervention to reduce consumption of sugary soft drinks

Jason P Block  1 , Amitabh Chandra, Katherine D McManus, Walter C Willett
Affiliations

Point-of-purchase price and education intervention to reduce consumption of sugary soft drinks

Jason P Block et al. Am J Public Health. 2010 Aug.

Abstract

Objectives: We investigated whether a price increase on regular (sugary) soft drinks and an educational intervention would reduce their sales.

Methods: We implemented a 5-phase intervention at the Brigham and Women's Hospital cafeteria in Boston, Massachusetts. After posting existing prices of regular and diet soft drinks and water during baseline, we imposed several interventions in series: a price increase of 35% on regular soft drinks, a reversion to baseline prices (washout), an educational campaign, and a combination price and educational period. We collected data from a comparison site, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, also in Boston, for the final 3 phases.

Results: Sales of regular soft drinks declined by 26% during the price increase phase. This reduction in sales persisted throughout the study period, with an additional decline of 18% during the combination phase compared with the washout period. Education had no independent effect on sales. Analysis of the comparison site showed no change in regular soft drink sales during the study period.

Conclusions: A price increase may be an effective policy mechanism to decrease sales of regular soda. Further multisite studies in varied populations are warranted to confirm these results.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Four-phase timeline of soft drink point-of-purchase and education intervention: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, March 2008–July 2008.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Adjusted percentage change in beverage sales at the intervention site, by intervention phase for (a) regular soda, diet soda, and water and (b) sugary water, juice, coffee, and fountain drinks: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, March 2008–July 2008. Notes. *P < .05; **P < .01; ***P < .001
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Adjusted percentage change in beverage sales at the comparison site, by intervention phase for (a) regular soda, diet soda, and water and (b) sugary water, juice, coffee, and fountain drinks: Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Boston, MA, March 2008–July 2008. Notes. *P < .05; **P < .01; ***P < .001
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Block G. Foods contributing to energy intake in the US: data from NHANES III and NHANES 1999–2000. J Food Compost Anal 2004;17(3–4):439–447
    1. Nielsen SJ, Popkin BM. Changes in beverage intake between 1977 and 2001. Am J Prev Med 2004;27(3):205–210 - PubMed
    1. Schulze MB, Manson JE, Ludwig DS, et al. Sugar-sweetened beverages, weight gain, and incidence of type 2 diabetes in young and middle-aged women. JAMA 2004;292(8):927–934 - PubMed
    1. Dhingra R, Sullivan L, Jacques PF, et al. Soft drink consumption and risk of developing cardiometabolic risk factors and the metabolic syndrome in middle-aged adults in the community. Circulation 2007;116(5):480–488 - PubMed
    1. Ebbeling CB, Feldman HA, Osganian SK, et al. Effects of decreasing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption on body weight in adolescents: a randomized, controlled pilot study. Pediatrics 2006;117(3):673–680 - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources