Relations between sweetened beverage consumption and individual, interpersonal, and environmental factors: a 6-year longitudinal study in German children and adolescents

Abstract

Objectives: This study aims to characterize the consumption of sweetened beverages (SB) among young people in Germany in terms of individual and interpersonal-environmental correlates.

Methods: A representative sample of children and adolescents from Germany was assessed twice, 6 years apart (total longitudinal sample n = 11,691 children and adolescents aged between 0 and 17 years old; weighted). The relations between individual and interpersonal-environmental factors at baseline with SB intake 6 years later were analysed using bivariate and multivariate methods.

Results: The majority of children and adolescents in Germany consume sweetened beverages weekly, 23% daily. SB consumption is particularly high in boys and often accompanied by other unhealthy lifestyle behaviours including a high level of tobacco and media consumption with a concurrent deficiency in fruit and vegetable consumption. Interpersonal factors associated with higher sweetened beverage consumption include low socio-economic status, tobacco consumption of parents, and older maternal age.

Conclusions: Research on factors that correlate with sweetened beverage consumption is crucial to design effective interventions. Our findings underline the importance of complex, multi-level interventions to target sweetened beverage intake and obesity.

Keywords: Environmental factors; Individual factors; Interpersonal factors; Obesity; Soda; Soft drinks.

Fig. 1

Individual and interpersonal-environmental correlates of sweetened beverage consumption (bivariate and multivariate associations with the independent variable “glasses per day”) among children and adolescents in Germany. Notes: Associations between behaviour-related variables and sweetened beverage consumption refer to the cohort of children aged 11 and over (dark grey circular area); all other associations refer to the whole cohort (light grey circular area). See method section for details. If one of the categories showed a significant contrast to the respective reference category, significance is displayed. ¹Male. ²Former German Democratic Republic (Nationwide representative KiGGS study, Germany, 2003–2012)