Who drinks soda pop? Economic status and adult consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages
Files
First author draft
Date
2020-08
Authors
Zagorsky, Jay L.
Smith, Patricia K.
Version
First author draft
OA Version
Citation
Jay L Zagorsky, Patricia K Smith. 2020. "Who drinks soda pop? Economic status and adult consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages.." Econ Hum Biol, Volume 38, pp. 100888 - ?. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2020.100888
Abstract
We use two cohorts from the National Longitudinal Surveys (NLSY79 and NLSY97), which are large, nationally representative samples of U.S. adults, to investigate consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) by SES, using nine surveys fielded between 2008 and 2016. Previous studies used income and education to measure SES, the NLS enables us to include wealth as well. Previous studies also used cross-sectional data, whereas the NLS allows us to examine whether changes in income and wealth correlate with changes in SSB intake. The results indicate an inverse gradient in SSB consumption with respect to both income and wealth, controlling for education. However, we do not find evidence that changes in income and wealth correlate with changes in SSB intake. This finding suggests that SES influences the development of SSB consumption patterns, but changes in income and wealth generally do not alter them in adulthood.