Sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and its influencing factors among school children of Beijing, Hunan and Ningxia

Objective To examine the correlates of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption in Chinese schoolchildren.Methods A cross-sectional study on the SSB consumption and its determinants was carried out among 4 087 10-18-year-old Chinese schoolchildren from Sep.2012 to Jan.2013.Participants were recruited through stratified cluster sampling from 21 primary and middle schools of Beijing,Hunan and Ningxia as representative samples of the eastern,central and western China.A structured self-administered questionnaire was used for collecting information on demographic,SSB consumption as well as gender,age,residential region,weight status (non-obese and overweight or obese),parents' education,family social economic status (SES),family SSB availability,daily screen viewing time and attitude towards SSB.All the determinants were taken into consideration according to the Social-ecology theory and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB).Multiple linear regression analyses were used for examining the independent association.Results Data of the 4 165 participants aged 12.9±2.3 years old were used for analysis.The weekly SSB consumption was 7.1±10.3 cups (250 mL/cup) per capita (the average of the total sample including non-drinkers) and 8.9±10.8cups per consumer (who consumes more than 0 ml of SSB per week),respectively.Boys [β =-0.079,95% CI =(-0.114,-0.045)],longer daily screen time [β=0.131,95%CI=(0.096,0.165)],easier access to SSB at home [β=0.218,95%CI=(0.183,0.253)],higher SES score [β =0.164,95%CI =(0.126,0.203)],negative attitude towards SSB consumption [β =-0.190,95%CI=(-0.225,-0.155)],lack of health consciousness [β=-0.099,95%CI=(-0.134,-0.064)] and low self-control [β=-0.210,95%CI=(-0.244,-0.175)] contributed to more SSB consumption (R2 =0.262).Conclusion Being boys,longer daily screen time,higher SES,negative attitudes towards SSB consumption and easier access to SSB at home associate with more SSB consumption in Chinese schoolchildren.