An Educational Intervention for Improving the Snacks and Beverages Brought to Youth Sports in the USA

Lori Andersen Spruance, Natalie Bennion, Gabriel Ghanadan and Jay E. Maddock
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Lori Andersen Spruance: Department of Public Health, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Natalie Bennion: Department of Public Health, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Gabriel Ghanadan: Department of Public Health, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT 84602, USA
Jay E. Maddock: Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 9, 1-10

Abstract: Objectives: The purpose of this study was to test a small-scale intervention and its ability to decrease total sugar intake and number of calories offered at youth sports games. Methods: This study was a pre/post-test quasi-experimental design. A flier was developed and distributed to parents. The flier aimed to decrease the sugar-sweetened beverages and increase the nutritional quality of food brought to games. Baseline data were collected in 2018 ( n = 61). The flier was distributed prior to the start of the league, once during the league, and posted online in 2019. Postintervention data were collected in the intervention group ( n = 122) and a comparison group ( n = 74). Nutritional information was collected through direct observation. Results: The average amount of total sugar provided per game per child was 25.5 g at baseline when snacks/beverages were provided at games. After the intervention, the average amount of total sugar provided significantly decreased (16.7 g/game/child, p < 0.001). Conclusions: The intervention reduced total sugar offered and the number of sugar-sweetened beverages brought to games. It was low-cost and could be easily implemented by public health practitioners and/or parks and recreation administrators. Further, considerations could be made to implement policies relative to snacks and beverages at youth sports games.

Keywords: youth; sports; sugar-sweetened beverages; water (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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