Published: January 2025

ID #: 283-4136

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The objectives of this study were to develop a shared understanding among multiple stakeholders about the structural and underlying, interconnected drivers of SSB and water consumption in the Washington, DC, metro area and to have them identify feasible and influential policy levers. A community-based system dynamics approach was used during a 2-day group model building workshop where stakeholders engaged to develop a shared visual representation of the underlying, interconnected drivers of SSB and water intake and to identify what they believed were influential and feasible policy levers. Stakeholders were purposively recruited from diverse sectors (early childhood education [n = 6], nutrition assistance programs [n = 2], food policy council and advocacy groups [n =4], city government officials including municipal water [n = 4], and food and beverage retail [n = 1]) to participate in a group model building workshop during July 2022 in Washington, DC. Stakeholders visualized 7 subsystems that drive water and SSB consumption, then identified and ranked 5 policy levers by potential impact and ease of implementation, including increase public health spending (high impact/hard to do); invest in new and updated infrastructure for public water (high impact/hard to do); implement coordinated public health campaigns to promote drinking safe, palatable water as an alternative to SSB (low impact/easy to do); provision of tap water filters (low impact/easy to do); and limits on SSB marketing (high impact/debated easy or hard to do). This participatory approach allowed stakeholders to envision multiple places to intervene in the system simultaneously to both decrease SSB and increase water consumption in the specific context of their community.

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