Oral Presentation ANZOS-OSSANZ-AOCO Joint Annual Scientific Meeting 2017

Sugary drink consumption: It’s time to address attitudes, beliefs and associated behaviours (#84)

Joanne Dono 1 , Kerry Ettridge 1 2 , Melanie Wakefield 3 , Simone Pettigrew 4 , John Coveney 5 , Gary Wittert 1 2 , Sarah Durkin 3 , David Roder 6 , Jane Martin 7 , Caroline Miller 2 8
  1. SAHMRI, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  2. University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  3. CBRC, Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  4. Curtin University, Perth , WA, Australia
  5. Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  6. School of Population Health, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia
  7. Obesity Policy Coalition, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  8. Population Health Research Group, South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), Adelaide, SA, Australia

Introduction:

Sugary drinks contribute excess added sugars to the diet, potentially leading to weight gain and obesity. Australians are high consumers of sugary drinks so interventions to reduce population-level consumption would produce public health benefits. To address population-level consumption of sugary drinks, it is important to establish what the Australian community currently knows about sugary drinks, and what attitudes, beliefs and behaviours are associated with higher levels of sugary drink consumption.

Methods:

A national survey was conducted with adults aged 18 years and over to explore sugary drink consumption and associated knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. The survey was administered using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews and occurred between February and April 2017. Random digit dialling of landline and mobile phones was used to obtain a nationally representative sample of 3430.

Results:

Preliminary results show that almost half of the sample consumed sugary drinks at least weekly and 14% consumed them at least daily. Consumption was higher among males (19% daily; 56% weekly) compared to females (8% daily; 40% weekly) and those aged 18 to 30 years (17% daily; 67% weekly) compared to older age groups (13% daily; 41% weekly). Each increase in consumption from none to non-daily to daily corresponded with higher rates of availability of sugary drinks at home, shift-work, takeaway consumption, and perceiving family, friends and peers as regular consumers. Daily consumers were less likely than none and non-daily consumers to be aware of health risks linked to sugary drink consumption.

Conclusion:

There is a high consumption of sugary drinks among Australians, particularly young adult males. This and interventions aimed at de-normalising consumption practices and increasing knowledge about the health risks associated with sugary drink consumption are warranted. The identification of risk factors associated with the behaviour provide the opportunity for target interventions.