Impact of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Health Warnings

NCT03511937 | Completed Results

• 2 other identifiers: 17-33752KR951708
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 400
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) like sodas, sports drinks, and fruit drinks remains a pressing public health concern in the United States. Consumption of SSBs remains well above recommended levels, and has been linked to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. In response, policymakers across the U.S. have proposed requiring warning messages on SSB containers to inform the public and reduce consumption to healthier levels. While online studies find that such warnings reduce intentions to purchase SSBs, no studies have yet examined the impact of warnings on actual consumer behavior. The purpose of this randomized trial is to determine whether health warnings on sugar-sweetened beverages are more effective than control labels at reducing purchases of sugar-sweetened beverages. The trial will take place in a mock convenience store. Participants will be randomly assigned to a health warnings arm in which all sugar-sweetened beverages in the store are labeled with a health warning, or to a control arm in which all sugar-sweetened beverages in the store are labeled with a neutral label. Participants will select items to purchase with cash, and purchases will be compared across trial arms.

Conditions

Dietary Habits

Keywords

Food and beverage purchases; Sugar-sweetened beverages; Beverages

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Mean Number of Calories (kcal) Purchased From Sugar-sweetened Beverages

  The primary outcome is calories of sugar-sweetened beverages purchased during the shopping task. Calories from sugar-sweetened beverage purchases is defined as the total number of calories from sugar-sweetened beverages in the participant's basket when they complete the shopping task, calculated as the sum of calories/container for all SSB containers. Purchases will be recorded by the experimenter immediately after the participant completes the \~10-minute shopping task.

  At completion of ~10-minute shopping task

Secondary Outcomes (14)

• Mean Number of Calories (kcal) Purchased From All Foods and Beverages

  At completion of ~10-minute shopping task

• Percent of Participants Who Purchase a Sugar-sweetened Beverage

  At completion of ~10-minute shopping task

• Mean Number of Sugar-sweetened Beverages Purchased

  At completion of ~10 minute shopping task

• Mean Intentions Score to Limit Consumption of Beverages Added Sugar

  Within 30 minutes following completion of ~10-minute shopping task

• Mean Intentions Sore to Limit Consumption of Specific Sugar-sweetened Beverages

  Within 30 minutes following completion of ~10-minute shopping task

Other Outcomes (5)

• Mean Injunctive Norms Score Regarding Consumption of Beverages With Added Sugar

  Within 30 minutes following completion of ~10-minute shopping task

• Mean Perceived Message Effectiveness of Trial Label

  Within 30 minutes following completion of ~10-minute shopping task

• Mean Support for Sugar-sweetened Beverage Health Warning Labels Score

  Within 30 minutes following completion of ~10-minute shopping task

Study Arms (2)

Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Health Warning Label

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Health Warning Label

Neutral Label

OTHER

Other: Neutral Label

Interventions

Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Health Warning Label BEHAVIORAL

Labels with a health warning will be applied to the front-of-package of all sugar-sweetened beverage containers in the mock store. Investigators developed the text and design of these labels based on previous research and on designs described in US and international legislation.

Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Health Warning Label

Neutral Label OTHER

Neutral labels will be applied to the front-of-package of all sugar-sweetened beverage containers in the mock store. Investigators developed the design of these labels.

Neutral Label

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Age 18 years or older
• Consume at least 12oz/week of sugar-sweetened beverages during the past month
• Be able to read and speak English

You may not qualify if:

• Under the age of 18 years
• Consume less than 12 ounces/week of sugar-sweetened beverages during the past month
• Unable to read or speak English

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill: lead
• North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599, United States

Location

Related Publications (9)

• Bollard T, Maubach N, Walker N, Ni Mhurchu C. Effects of plain packaging, warning labels, and taxes on young people's predicted sugar-sweetened beverage preferences: an experimental study. Int J Behav Nutr Phys Act. 2016 Sep 1;13(1):95. doi: 10.1186/s12966-016-0421-7.

  PMID: 27580589 BACKGROUND

• Roberto CA, Wong D, Musicus A, Hammond D. The Influence of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Health Warning Labels on Parents' Choices. Pediatrics. 2016 Feb;137(2):e20153185. doi: 10.1542/peds.2015-3185. Epub 2016 Jan 14.

  PMID: 26768346 BACKGROUND

• Zoellner J, Estabrooks PA, Davy BM, Chen YC, You W. Exploring the theory of planned behavior to explain sugar-sweetened beverage consumption. J Nutr Educ Behav. 2012 Mar-Apr;44(2):172-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jneb.2011.06.010. Epub 2011 Dec 8.

  PMID: 22154130 BACKGROUND

• Nonnemaker, J., Farrelly, M., Kamyab, K., Busey, A., & Mann, N. (2010). Experimental study of graphic cigarette warning labels. Final Results Report. RTI Project, 7. Accessed March 20, 2018. Available at: http://www.tobaccolabels.ca/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/USA-2010-Experimental-Study-of-Graphic-Cigarette-Warning-Labels-Final-Results-Report-and-Appendices-FDA.pdf

  BACKGROUND

• Moodie C, MacKintosh AM, Hammond D. Adolescents' response to text-only tobacco health warnings: results from the 2008 UK Youth Tobacco Policy Survey. Eur J Public Health. 2010 Aug;20(4):463-9. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckp199. Epub 2009 Dec 3.

  PMID: 19959613 BACKGROUND

• Klein WM, Zajac LE, Monin MM. Worry as a moderator of the association between risk perceptions and quitting intentions in young adult and adult smokers. Ann Behav Med. 2009 Dec;38(3):256-61. doi: 10.1007/s12160-009-9143-2.

  PMID: 20049660 BACKGROUND

• Fathelrahman AI, Omar M, Awang R, Cummings KM, Borland R, Bin Mohd Samin AS. Impact of the new Malaysian cigarette pack warnings on smokers' awareness of health risks and interest in quitting smoking. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2010 Nov;7(11):4089-99. doi: 10.3390/ijerph7114089. Epub 2010 Nov 22.

  PMID: 21139879 BACKGROUND

• Brewer NT, Jeong M, Mendel JR, Hall MG, Zhang D, Parada H Jr, Boynton MH, Noar SM, Baig SA, Morgan JC, Ribisl KM. Cigarette pack messages about toxic chemicals: a randomised clinical trial. Tob Control. 2019 Jan;28(1):74-80. doi: 10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2017-054112. Epub 2018 Apr 13.

  PMID: 29654122 BACKGROUND

• Grummon AH, Taillie LS, Golden SD, Hall MG, Ranney LM, Brewer NT. Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Health Warnings and Purchases: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Am J Prev Med. 2019 Nov;57(5):601-610. doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2019.06.019. Epub 2019 Oct 2.

  PMID: 31586510 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Feeding Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior, Animal; Behavior

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Anna Grummon, PhD
• Organization: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

agrummon@hsph.harvard.edu

(617) 495-2021

Study Officials

• Anna H Grummon, MSPH

  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: Yes

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Masking Details: This trial uses incomplete disclosure to mask the purpose of the trial from participants.
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 18, 2018
• First Posted: April 30, 2018
• Study Start: May 11, 2018
• Primary Completion: September 19, 2018
• Study Completion: September 19, 2018
• Last Updated: March 30, 2021
• Results First Posted: March 10, 2021

Record last verified: 2021-03

Locations

US (1)