Food Purchasing Behaviors and Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption among Canadian Secondary School Students in the COMPASS Study

Abstract

Objectives: To examine whether several food purchasing behaviors (ie, sources of meals or snacks) are associated with adolescents' sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption and whether these associations vary by province.

Design: Cross-sectional observational study.

Setting: Alberta and Ontario, Canada.

Participants: Secondary school students from Alberta (n = 3,300) and Ontario (n = 37,999) participating in year 2 (2013-2014) of the Cannabis Use, Obesity, Mental Health, Physical Activity, Alcohol Use, Smoking, Sedentary Behavior (COMPASS) study.

Main outcome measures: Participants' self-reported frequency of consuming 3 SSB types (soft drinks, sweetened coffees/teas, and energy drinks) in a typical week.

Analysis: Hierarchical Poisson regression analyses.

Results: Participants from Alberta had a significantly (P < .05) higher rate of consuming SSBs and purchasing meals or snacks from school food outlets compared with their Ontario counterparts. Most of the food purchasing behaviors were significantly (P < .05) and positively associated with greater rates of SSB consumption. Meal or snack purchases on weekends (vs weekdays) and from food outlets off school property (vs on school property) had a greater association with SSB consumption. Eating a home-packed lunch was protective against SSB consumption across models.

Conclusions and implications: Adolescents' food purchasing behaviors have a significant impact on their propensity for SSB consumption. These data demonstrate potentially important contexts for SSB consumption and have implications for possible settings and strategies for future interventions to reduce adolescents' SSB intake.

Keywords: adolescent; energy drinks; nutrition policy; secondary schools; sugar-sweetened beverages.