Soft Drinks Consumption Is Associated with Behavior Problems in 5-Year-Olds

• Published in: The Journal of pediatrics Vol. 163; no. 5; pp. 1323 - 1328
• Main Authors: Suglia, Shakira F., ScD, Solnick, Sara, PhD, Hemenway, David, PhD
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.11.2013; Mosby, Inc
• Subjects: African Americans; aggression; behavior problems; Black or African American; boys; Carbonated Beverages; Child Behavior; Child Behavior Disorders - epidemiology; Child Behavior Disorders - etiology; Child, Preschool; children; cities; cohort studies; Depression; Family Health; Female; Humans; Male; Mothers; Pediatrics; Prospective Studies; Regression Analysis; Risk Factors; Social Class; sociodemographic characteristics; soft drinks; Spouse Abuse; Surveys and Questionnaires; United States; United States; Body mass index; Child Behavior Checklist; TV; Television; Intimate partner violence; CBCL; IPV; BMI
• ISSN: 0022-3476; 1097-6833
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2013.06.023

Objective To examine soda consumption and aggressive behaviors, attention problems, and withdrawal behavior among 5-year-old children. Study design The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study is a prospective birth cohort study that follows a sample of mother-child pairs from 20 large US cities. Mothers reported children's behaviors using the Child Behavior Checklist at age 5 years and were asked to report how many servings of soda the child drinks on a typical day. Results In the sample of 2929 children, 52% were boys, 51% were African-American, 43% consumed at least one serving of soda per day, and 4% consumed 4 or more servings per day. In analyses adjusted for sociodemographic factors, consuming one (beta, 0.7; 95% CI, 0.1-1.4), 2 (beta, 1.8; 95% CI, 0.8-2.7), 3 (beta, 2.0; 95% CI, 0.6-3.4), or 4 or more (beta, 4.7; 95% CI, 3.2-6.2) servings was associated with a higher aggressive behavior score compared with consuming no soda. Furthermore, those who consumed 4 or more (beta, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.0-2.4) soda servings had higher scores on the attention problems subscale. Higher withdrawn behavior scores were noted among those consuming 2 (beta, 1.0; 95% CI, 0.3-1.8) or 4 or more (beta, 2.0; 95% CI, 0.8-3.1) soda servings compared with those who consumed no soda. Conclusion We note an association between soda consumption and negative behavior among very young children; future studies should explore potential mechanisms that could explain this association.