Teens Allegedly Influenced by Soft-Drink Warning Labels

Researchers with the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of
Medicine’s Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics have
authored a study claiming that adolescents are less likely to purchase
sugary beverages that carry warning labels. Eric VanEpps and Christina
Roberto, “The Influence of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Warnings,”
American Journal of Preventive Medicine, September 2016.

The study asked 2,202 adolescents ages 12-18 to imagine selecting one
of 20 popular 20-ounce beverages from a vending machine. This digital
survey included 12 sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) that displayed (i)
no warning label, (ii) a calorie label, or (iii) one of four labels warning
that SSBs contribute to (a) “obesity, diabetes and tooth decay”; (b)
“weight gain, diabetes and tooth decay”; (c) “preventable diseases like
obesity, diabetes and tooth decay”; or (d) “obesity, Type 2 diabetes and
tooth decay.”

The results evidently suggested that “77 percent of participants who saw
no label said they would select a sugary drink,” but fewer participants
chose an SSB in three of the four warning label scenarios. “Calorie labels
increased adolescents’ estimates of the calories in SSBs, as did two of
four warning labels. Both calorie and warning labels led participants to
subjectively evaluate SSBs to have more added sugar,” state the study
authors. “Finally, adolescents expressed that government-sponsored
SSB warning labels would shift their beliefs about a beverage’s healthfulness
and would motivate them to consume fewer SSBs. In addition,
the majority of respondents favored a policy to place warning labels on
SSBs.” The study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s
Healthy Eating Initiative.

Issue 616