Relationship Between Soft Drink Consumption and BMI Among Teens

Relationship Between Soft Drink Consumption and BMI Among Teens

Some researchers hypothesize that consumption of carbonated soft drinks is a major cause of the rising overweight and obesity rates of teenagers. Using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III, 1988-1994 (NHANES), we develop multivariate regression models with body mass index (BMI) as the dependent variable. The independent variables include measures for beverage consumption, demographics, income, and age. Separate models were estimated for males and females. NHANES measures the number of times per month beverages are consumed using a food frequency questionnaire that was administered to respondents ages 12-16.

Our results show no association between regular carbonated soft drink (RCSD) consumption and BMI (p greater than .5) for either gender. However, the results do show statistically significant associations between diet carbonated soft drink (DCSD) consumption and BMI. For every unit increase in DCSD consumption, the predicted BMI of females increased 0.039 (p less than .01) and the predicted BMI of males increased by .030 (p less than .01). Among both genders, BMI increased with age. African-American females had a 1.5 higher BMI than Caucasian females (p less than .01), but there were no racial or ethnic differences in BMI among males. Females who participated in more sports teams or exercise programs had a lower BMI. For every additional sports team or exercise program in which a female participated in the past year, her predicted BMI was lower by .34 points (p less than .01).

These results demonstrate that RCSD consumption is not associated with BMI among teens, but DCSD consumption has a small, positive association with BMI.

The findings also show that team sports and exercise programs may help teenage girls maintain a lower BMI.

Research was supported by an unrestricted grant from the National Soft Drink Association.