Focus Area: Beverages

Tapping Into Water: Key Considerations for Achieving Excellence in School Drinking Water Access

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This paper examines free drinking water access in California public schools. Researchers conducted cross-sectional interviews with administrators from 240 California schools from May to November 2011 to examine the proportion of schools that met excellent water access criteria (i.e., location, density, type, maintenance, and appeal of water sources), school level characteristics associated with excellent water More

Strategic Messaging to Promote Taxation of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: Lessons from Recent Political Campaigns

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Strategic messaging is used to emphasize certain aspects of issues in policy debates, shaping public views and policy-making processes. This paper explores the use of strategic messaging by proponents of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxation to influence public opinion, emphasizing the experiences in El Monte and Richmond, Calif., where SSB tax proposals were voted on in More

Americans’ Opinions about Policies to Reduce Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages

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Strategies to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are a key component of public health promotion and obesity prevention, yet the introduction of many of these policies has been met with political controversy. This paper assesses the levels and determinants of U.S. public support for policies to reduce consumption of SSBs. Respondents to an internet-based More

Employment Impact of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes

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In the past few years, numerous state and local legislators have proposed taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) as a means of changing individuals’ behavior in order to reduce obesity and improve health. None of these proposals have succeeded thus far, hindered in part by beverage industry claims of related job losses. This paper provides a More

Taxing Sugary Drinks: Will This Really Result in Job Losses?

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Sugary drinks add large amounts of calories to the diet and are linked with obesity. Many state legislatures have tried to impose new taxes on sugary drinks, but the beverage industry has opposed such measures claiming that taxes on sugary drinks will result in regional job losses because of reduced consumption. This issue brief highlights More

Informing School Policies and Practices to Ensure Access to Free High-Quality Drinking Water to Reduce Children’s Consumption of Sugary Beverages

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Little empirical research has been done to support policies that increase access to free drinking water as part of comprehensive strategies to reduce consumption of sugary beverages and prevent childhood obesity. This study will examine beverage environments in 20 diverse high schools in King County, Wash., to guide the development of effective school water policies More

Assessing the Impact of Food Restrictions Under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on Food Choices by Children and Families

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Some public health advocates and policymakers are proposing restrictions on the types of foods eligible for purchase with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, such as sugary drinks and food products with minimal nutritional value. To date, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has rejected all such proposals due to lack of research on whether More

The Soda Tax Debate in Telluride, Colorado: How Was It Framed?

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Taxes on sugary drinks have been identified as a policy tool that could reduce consumption of these beverages or raise funds to address associated health expenses. To date, tax proposals have met stiff opposition from the beverage industry and others. An unsuccessful ballot measure in November 2013 to place a one-cent tax per ounce on More