Hofmann Lisa P, Wang Yin, Fuster Melissa, Stoecker Charles, Gollub Elizabeth, Knapp Megan
Department of Public Health Sciences, Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Department of Health Policy and Management, Tulane University Cecilia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana.
AJPM Focus. 2025 Jun 26;4(5):100382. doi: 10.1016/j.focus.2025.100382. eCollection 2025 Oct.
Childhood obesity and related health consequences are associated with sugar-sweetened beverage consumption and present significant health challenges in the U.S., particularly among minoritized and low-income populations. Louisiana, with some of the highest obesity and cardiometabolic disease rates in the U.S., exemplifies these concerns. Dining out increases sugar-sweetened beverage intake and underscores the need for interventions.
This observational study examines the proportion of restaurants offering beverages with children's meals on printed and QR code menus, the types of beverages they offer, and correlates of offering these beverages across 287 restaurants in New Orleans, Louisiana, before its healthy default beverage policy was implemented and in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which does not have a healthy default beverage policy. On-site environmental assessments were conducted in restaurants offering children's menus.
Only 14.6% of restaurants with children's meals offered only healthy default beverage options, 39.4% offered sugar-sweetened beverages, and 46% did not specify children's beverages on their menus. Logistic regression analysis indicated that restaurants categorized as fast food, affiliated with a chain, or offering children's meals with age restrictions were significantly more likely to include beverages in their children's meals. Furthermore, chain and fast-food restaurants were more likely than fast-casual restaurants to include only healthy default beverages on the children's menus.
Ultimately, this research contributes to the broader discourse on improving nutritional environments in restaurant settings and underscores the need for evidence-based interventions to mitigate the impact of sugar-sweetened beverage consumption on childhood obesity and health outcomes. The findings provide a foundation for future studies evaluating the effectiveness of healthy default beverage policies.
儿童肥胖及其相关健康后果与含糖饮料的消费有关，在美国构成了重大的健康挑战，尤其是在少数族裔和低收入人群中。路易斯安那州是美国肥胖和心血管代谢疾病发病率最高的地区之一，凸显了这些问题。外出就餐会增加含糖饮料的摄入量，这突出了采取干预措施的必要性。
这项观察性研究调查了在路易斯安那州新奥尔良市实施健康默认饮料政策之前以及在没有健康默认饮料政策的路易斯安那州巴吞鲁日市的287家餐厅中，在印刷菜单和二维码菜单上为儿童餐提供饮料的餐厅比例、所提供饮料的类型，以及提供这些饮料的相关因素。对提供儿童菜单的餐厅进行了现场环境评估。
只有14.6%提供儿童餐的餐厅仅提供健康默认饮料选项，39.4%提供含糖饮料，46%在菜单上未明确儿童饮料。逻辑回归分析表明，被归类为快餐店、隶属于连锁餐厅或提供有年龄限制儿童餐的餐厅，在儿童餐中包含饮料的可能性显著更高。此外，连锁餐厅和快餐店比休闲快餐店更有可能在儿童菜单上仅提供健康默认饮料。
最终，这项研究有助于更广泛地讨论改善餐厅环境中的营养状况，并强调需要采取循证干预措施，以减轻含糖饮料消费对儿童肥胖和健康结果的影响。研究结果为未来评估健康默认饮料政策有效性的研究奠定了基础。
