Reducing Sugar-sweetened Beverage Consumption Among Children

Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) significantly contribute to sugar and calorie intakes, and their consumption is associated with metabolic disease. Sweetened beverages also account for the majority of pediatric caffeine consumption. It is well-established that habitual caffeine use leads to dependence in adults and evidence for sugar dependence has been documented. However, caffeine and/or sugar dependence related to sweetened beverage consumption has not been evaluated, and determinants of their consumption among youth are severely understudied. It is critical to elucidate whether they may be physiologically or psychologically dependent on these beverages, particularly SSBs, which contain both caffeine and sugar.

The purpose of this study is to conduct a pilot study where caffeinated SSB's are replaced with caffeinated SSBs provided by the study team (control) or with caffeine-free and unsweetened alternatives (also provided by the study team) for 2 weeks, among children who habitually consume caffeinated SSBs.

Lowering SSB consumption is a central component of lifestyle behavior change aimed at preventing and managing obesity, yet effective reduction of SSB intakes has been met with many challenges. While their palatability, accessibility, publicity, affordability, and social acceptability contribute to frequent and sustained SSB consumption, their caffeine and sugar content may further encourage continued intake. Although adverse health consequences of excessive SSB consumption are well documented, the extent to which their pleasant taste (due primarily to their sugar content) and post-ingestive effects (due to their sugar and/or caffeine content) positively reinforce consumption among children has not been elucidated. This is particularly important to study among children from low-income and minority backgrounds, as these children have the highest rates of SSB intake and the highest prevalence of obesity.

Specific Aims and Hypotheses:

1. Examine the feasibility of an intervention to remove caffeinated SSB from the child diet. We hypothesize that caffeinated SSB avoidance will be feasible among children, but that compliance will be lowest among those assigned to sparkling water, devoid of both caffeine and sugar. Compliance with beverage assignments will be assessed using daily online questionnaires and weekly dietary recalls.

2. Explore the extent to which caffeinated SSB removal induces withdrawal symptoms. We hypothesize that replacement of caffeinated SSBs with caffeine-free SSBs, or sparkling water will induce withdrawal symptoms compared to control (usual caffeinated SSB consumption). Participants will complete a child-adapted version of the validated Caffeine Withdrawal Symptoms Questionnaire (CWSQ) at baseline and daily (online) during the intervention.