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Parents’ beliefs about the healthfulness of sugary drink options: opportunities to address misperceptions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2015

Christina R Munsell
Affiliation:
Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Yale University, 309 Edwards Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
Jennifer L Harris*
Affiliation:
Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Yale University, 309 Edwards Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
Vishnudas Sarda
Affiliation:
Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Yale University, 309 Edwards Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA
Marlene B Schwartz
Affiliation:
Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, Yale University, 309 Edwards Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
*
* Corresponding author: Email jennifer.harris@yale.edu
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Abstract

Objective

To assess potential misperceptions among parents regarding the healthfulness of sugary drinks for their children.

Design

Online survey of parents. Participants identified the categories and specific brands of sugary drinks they provided for their children. They also indicated their perceptions of sugary drink categories and brands as healthy options for children, perceived importance of on-package claims in purchase decisions and their concerns about common sugary drink ingredients.

Setting

Online market research panel.

Subjects

Parents (n 982) of 2- to 17-year-olds, 46 % non-white or Hispanic.

Results

Ninety-six per cent of parents provided on average 2·9 different categories of sugary drinks for their children in the past month. Flavoured waters, fruit drinks and sports drinks were rated as the healthiest sugary drink categories. Across all categories and brands, parents who purchased specific products rated them as significantly healthier than those who did not (P<0·05). Over half of parents reported concern about caffeine, sugar and artificial sweeteners in sugary drinks that their children consume and approximately one-third reported that on-package ingredient claims were important in their purchase decisions.

Conclusions

Nearly all parents provide sugary drinks for their children and many believe that some sugary drinks are healthy options for children, particularly flavoured waters, fruit drinks and sports drinks. Furthermore, many parents rely upon on-package claims in their purchase decisions. Given excessive consumption of added sugar by children in the home, there is a continuing need to address parents’ misperceptions about the healthfulness of many sugary drink products.

Information

Type
Research Papers
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2015 
Figure 0

Table 1 Demographic data for surveyed parents of 2- to 17-year-olds, USA, 2011

Figure 1

Table 2 Percentage of parents who purchased or provided sugary drinks for their child in the past month* in an online survey of parents (n 982) of 2- to 17-year-olds, USA, 2011

Figure 2

Table 3 Perceived healthfulness of drink categories and sugary drink brands* in an online survey of parents (n 982) of 2- to 17-year-olds, USA, 2011

Figure 3

Fig. 1 Perceived healthfulness of selected sugary drink categories (diagonal hatched bars) and brands according to provision (, parent did not provide the drink for their child; , parent did provide the drink for their child) in an online survey of parents (n 982) of 2- to 17-year-olds, USA, 2011. Percentage of parents who responded 7–9 (somewhat/very healthy) on a scale of 1 to 9 to: ‘Please rate how healthy you think each beverage is for your child’ (note: the eight healthiest rated products and corresponding categories are shown). *Significantly different from parents who did not purchase the drink for their child (P<0·05)

Figure 4

Table 4 Parents’ concern about drink ingredients and the importance of on-package claims in an online survey of parents (n 982) of 2- to 17-year-olds, USA, 2011