THURS-019 - How Current Sugary Beverage Intake Influences Reduction Efforts Among Latina Young Adults
Thursday, April 17, 2025
11:45 AM – 12:45 PM PST
Location: Pacific I/II, 2nd Floor
Area of Responsibility: Area V: Advocacy Subcompetencies: 1.3.3 Identify the social, cultural, economic, political, and environmental factors that impact the health and/or learning processes of the priority p, 2.3 Determine health education and promotion interventions. Research or Practice: Research
Student San Jose State University Fresno, California, United States
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this session, participants will be able to:
Analyze the associations between current sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption and behavioral determinants such as attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavioral control in young Latina adults.
Assess how current SSB consumption influences the intention to reduce intake and the role that cultural values play in moderating these behavioral relationships.
Upon completion, participants will be able to understand the relationship between current SSB consumption and behavioral determinants, including attitudes, norms, and perceived behavioral control, and assess how these factors influence the intention to reduce intake among young Latina adults.
Brief Abstract Summary: Discover the relationships between current sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption and key behavioral factors such as attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavioral control among young Latina adults. Learn how these factors influence the intention to reduce SSB intake, with a unique focus on examining the direction from consumption to behavior change determinants, rather than the reverse. This research highlights the importance of understanding current consumption patterns to better predict intentions and develop effective strategies for improving health outcomes in diverse populations.
Detailed abstract description: This study explores the associations between current sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption and behavioral determinants—attitudes, social norms, and perceived behavioral control—and how these factors influence the intention to reduce SSB consumption among young Latina adults. Unlike previous studies, which primarily examine how these behavioral determinants drive consumption, this research reverses the direction, focusing on how current SSB intake impacts attitudes, norms, self-efficacy, and ultimately, reduction intentions. Using a sample of 868 Latina young adults, SSB consumption (in fluid ounces per day) and one-item Likert scale measures for attitudes, norms, perceived behavioral control, and intention to reduce SSB were collected. Path analysis revealed that higher SSB consumption was significantly associated with less favorable attitudes (β = -0.25, p < 0.01), weaker social norms (β = -0.18, p < 0.05), and lower perceived behavioral control (β = -0.22, p < 0.05). These behavioral determinants were, in turn, significantly related to a lower intention to reduce SSB consumption. The findings suggest that current SSB consumption negatively influences behavioral factors, which could hinder intentions to reduce intake. This reverse pathway offers unique insights for future public health strategies aiming to reduce SSB consumption by targeting current intake patterns and their effects on health behaviors among diverse populations.
