title: Reducing sugar-sweetened beverage consumption by providing caloric information: how Black adolescents alter their purchases and whether the effects persist.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We examined the ways in which adolescents altered the type and size of their purchases of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), together with whether the effects persisted after removing caloric information signs in stores.
  
  
  METHODS
  We used a case-crossover design with 6 stores located in low-income Black neighborhoods in Baltimore, Maryland, from 2012 to 2013. The intervention used 1 of 4 randomly posted signs with caloric information: absolute calories, number of teaspoons of sugar, and number of minutes of running or miles of walking necessary to burn off a beverage. We collected data for 4516 purchases by Black adolescents, including both baseline and postintervention periods with no signs posted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that providing caloric information significantly reduced the number of total beverage calories purchased, the likelihood of buying an SSB, and the likelihood of buying an SSB greater than 16 ounces (P < .05). After removing the signs, the quantity, volume, and number of calories from SSB purchases remained lower than baseline (P < .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Providing caloric information was associated with purchasing a smaller SSB, switching to a beverage with no calories, or opting to not purchase a beverage; there was a persistent effect on reducing SSB purchases after signs were removed.
authors.affiliation: Sara N. Bleich, Colleen L. Barry, and Bradley J. Herring are with the Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD. Tiffany L. Gary-Webb is with the Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Department of Epidemiology, Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY.
authors.forename: Sara N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Bleich
authors.forename: Colleen L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Barry
authors.forename: Tiffany L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Gary-Webb
authors.forename: Bradley J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Herring
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American; D001628:Beverages / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D054626:Consumer Health Information; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control; D019422:Dietary Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control; D013660:Taxes
chemical_list: D019422:Dietary Sucrose