Soft drink consumption in Sri Lankan adolescents

Abstract

Objective: To determine the factors associated with sugar-sweetened soft drink consumption in adolescents from Sri Lanka. Design: A cross-sectional study where the data were collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire. Setting: Government, private and international schools in the Colombo district of Sri Lanka. Subjects: Adolescents aged 17 years attending sixty-five schools. Results: Overall 82% consumed sugar-sweetened soft drinks once weekly or more often, while 77% and 48% consumed sugar-sweetened carbonated drinks and sugar-sweetened fruit drinks once weekly or more often. Being a boy (OR=1.44; 95% CI 1.02, 2.03), attending a private/international school (OR=4.12; 95% CI 1.94, 8.75), mother's level of education (OR=1.53; 95% CI 1.03, 2.28) and father's occupation (middle level: OR=2.39; 95% CI 1.63, 3.52; upper level: OR=2.48; 95% CI 1.35, 4.56) were independently associated with the consumption of sugarsweetened soft drinks. Conclusions: The majority of adolescents in this sample consumed sugar-sweetened beverages once weekly or more often. It was evident that some sociodemographic factors were associated with the consumption of these drinks. © 2012 The Authors.