Trends in sugar-sweetened beverage consumption among California children

Objective: To assess trends in consumption of soda, sweetened fruit drinks/sports drinks and any sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) from 2013 to 2016 among all children in California aged 2-5 and 6-11 years and by racial-ethnic group. Design: Serial cross-sectional study using theCalifornia Health Interview Survey (CHIS). Setting: CHISis a telephone survey of households in California designed to assess population-level estimates of key health behaviours. Previous research usingCHISdocumented a decrease in SSB consumption among children in California from 2003 to 2009 coinciding with state-level policy efforts targeting child SSB consumption. Participants: Parents of children in California aged 2-11 years (n4901 in 2013-2014;n3606 in 2015-2016) were surveyed about the child's consumption of soda and sweetened fruit drinks/sports drinks on the day prior. Results: Among 2-5-year-olds, consumption of soda, sweetened fruit drinks/sports drinks and any SSB remained stable. Sweetened fruit drink/sports drink consumption was higher than soda consumption in this age group. Latino 2-5- year-olds were more likely to consume any SSB in both 2013-2014 and 2015-2016 compared with Whites. Among 6-11-year-olds, consumption of soda, sweetened fruit drinks/sports drinks and any SSB also remained stable over time. Latino and African-American 6-11-year-olds were more likely to consume an SSB in 2013-2014 compared with White children. Conclusions: SSB consumption among children in California was unchanged from 2013 to 2016 and racial-ethnic disparities were evident. Increased policy efforts are needed to further reduce SSB consumption, particularly among children of Latino and African-American backgrounds.