Characteristics Associated with Being a High Consumer of Sweet Foods and Sugar-Sweetened Beverages among US Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2021.
Nutrients
; 15(10)2023 May 18.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-20241070
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The COVID-19 pandemic impacted some dietary habits of Americans.OBJECTIVE:
We examined characteristics associated with a high intake of sweet foods and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) during the COVID-19 pandemic among US adults.DESIGN:
This was a cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS/SETTINGS The SummerStyles survey data were collected in 2021 among 4034 US adults (≥18 years). MAIN OUTCOMEMEASURES:
The frequencies were measured of consuming various sweet foods (chocolate/candy, doughnuts/sweet rolls/Danish/muffins/Pop-Tarts, cookies/cake/pie/brownies, and ice cream/frozen desserts) and SSB (regular sodas, sweetened coffee/tea drinks fruit drinks, sports drinks, and energy drinks) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The responses were categorized into 0, >0 to <1, 1 to <2, and ≥2 times/day. The descriptive variables were sociodemographics, food insecurity, weight status, metropolitan status, census regions, and eating habit changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED Multinomial regressions were used to estimate adjusted odds ratios (AOR) for being a high consumer of sweet foods and SSB after controlling for characteristics.RESULTS:
During 2021, 15% of adults reported consuming sweet foods ≥2 times/day, and 30% reported drinking SSB ≥2 times/day. The factors that were significantly associated with greater odds of high sweet food intake (≥2 times/day) were lower household income (AOR = 1.53 for <$35,000 vs. ≥$100,000), often/sometimes experiencing food insecurity (AOR = 1.41 vs. never), and eating more sweet foods than usual since start of the pandemic (AOR = 2.47 vs. same as usual). The factors that were significantly associated with greater odds of high SSB intake (≥2 times/day) were males (AOR = 1.51), lower education (AOR = 1.98 for ≤high school; AOR = 1.33 for some college vs. college graduate), currently having children (AOR = 1.65), living in nonmetropolitan areas (AOR = 1.34), and drinking more SSB than usual since the pandemic began (AOR = 2.23 vs. same as usual). Younger age, Black race, and reductions in consumption during COVID-19 were related to lower sweet food and SSB intakes.CONCLUSIONS:
Our findings, which identified high consumers of sweet foods or SSB, can be used to inform efforts to reduce consumers' added sugars intake during pandemic recovery and support their health.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Energy Drinks
/
Sugar-Sweetened Beverages
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Adult
/
Child
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Nu15102363
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