The role of the home environment in sugar-sweetened beverage intake among northern Mexican adolescents: a qualitative study

Abstract

Aim: To explore adolescents’ perceptions of how the home environment promotes the intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and to identify the potential environmental cues that trigger SSB intake at home. Subjects and methods: Twenty-nine semi-structured interviews were conducted among adolescents, aged 15–19 years, residing in an urban area in Northwest Mexico. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Results: Adolescents perceived that the availability of SSBs in the household increased their intake of SSBs. Availability of SSBs was facilitated mainly by taste preferences, ease of buying and beliefs that fruit-containing SSBs are healthy. Availability at home was considered important because SSBs were normally consumed with food during meals. Family influences and a lack of parental regulation were also regarded as factors promoting adolescents’ SSB intake at home. Drinking SSBs with food and having SSBs available at home were identified as habits that had been performed by participants’ families for many years. Conclusions: These findings provide insights into the role of the home and family environment in promoting SSB intake. Future interventions to reduce SSB intake in this sample of Mexican adolescents should address availability and facilitators of SSB intake at home, family influences and parental regulation.