Effect of Food Security and Federal Food Assistance Participation on Household Availability and Recorded Preschool Child Consumption of Sugar Sweetened Beverages and 100% Fruit Juice

Sugar sweetened beverage consumption is on the rise in the United States, particularly among children. However, the impact of household food security and federal food assistance participation on beverage habits has not been extensively analyzed. This paper sought to fill the current gap in literature on household beverage availability and recorded preschool child consumption of sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) and 100% fruit juice based on food security levels and status of federal food assistance participation. For this thesis, SSB are beverages that have added sugar and include fruit drinks, sodas, sports drinks, syrups, flavored milks, and teas. Baseline data from the Husky Byte project was used. Husky Byte was a three-year randomized, pretest-posttest control group study involving 471 primary caregivers of children aged 3-5 years at 24 daycare and preschool sites in Hartford County. Demographic information, household beverage inventory, food security data, and anthropometric measures were used from the Husky Byte program. Two-sample t-test and one-way ANOVA revealed that household availability of SSB and recorded child consumption of SSB was not associated with household food security or participation in federal food assistance programs. However, household food security was associated with more 100% fruit juice availability and SNAP participation was associated with increased reported preschool child consumption of 100% fruit juice. Further research is needed to more completely explore these differences