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- Title
'The university should promote health, but not enforce it': opinions and attitudes about the regulation of sugar-sweetened beverages in a university setting.
- Authors
Howse, Elly; Freeman, Becky; Wu, Jason H. Y.; Rooney, Kieron
- Abstract
<bold>Background: </bold>The study aimed to determine the opinions and attitudes of a university population regarding the regulation of sugar-sweetened beverages in a university setting, primarily looking at differences in opinion between younger adults (under 30 years of age) and older adults (30 years of age or older).<bold>Methods: </bold>An online survey was conducted at an Australian university in April-May 2016 using a convenience sample of students and staff between the ages of 16 and 84 years. The survey included questions about consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and level of agreement and support of proposed sugar-sweetened beverage interventions. Quantitative response data and qualitative open-ended response data were analysed.<bold>Results: </bold>Nine hundred thirteen responses from students and staff were analysed. In this population, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages was low and awareness of the health risks of sugar-sweetened beverages was high. Overall, the surveyed population indicated more support for interventions that require higher levels of personal responsibility. The population did support some environment-centred, population-based interventions, such as increasing access to drinking water and reducing the price of healthier beverage alternatives. However there was less support for more restrictive interventions such as removing sugar-sweetened beverages from sale. Young adults tended to be less supportive of most interventions than older adults.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>These findings indicate there is some support for environment-centred, population-based approaches to reduce the availability and appeal of sugar-sweetened beverages in an adult environment such as a university setting. However these results suggest that public health may need to focus less on educating populations about the harms associated with sugar-sweetened beverages. Instead, there should be greater emphasis on explaining to populations and communities why environment-centred approaches relating to the sale and promotion of sugar-sweetened beverages should be prioritised over interventions that simply target personal responsibility and individual behaviours.
- Subjects
AUSTRALIA; SOFT drinks; INTERNET surveys; COLLEGE student attitudes; HEALTH of college students; UNIVERSITIES &; colleges; COMMERCIAL statistics; PUBLIC health laws; UNIVERSITY &; college laws; HIGHER education statistics; HEALTH promotion; BEVERAGES; PSYCHOLOGY of college teachers; COMPARATIVE studies; HEALTH attitudes; RESEARCH methodology; MEDICAL cooperation; RESEARCH; STUDENTS; SWEETENERS; EVALUATION research; DIETARY sucrose; LAW
- Publication
BMC Public Health, 2017, Vol 17, p1
- ISSN
1471-2458
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.1186/s12889-017-4626-8