SipSmarter: A Nutrition Literacy Approach to Reducing Sugary Beverages

The primary aim of this application targeting at-risk residents from rural southwest Virginia counties is to:

• Determine the effectiveness of SIPsmart and SIPsmartER at decreasing SSB consumption when compared to a matched contact control group targeting walking behaviors.

The secondary aims are to:

• Explore causal pathways through which changes in SSB attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control influence behavioral intentions and SSB consumption, and the extent to which changes in SSB consumption are mediated by changes in nutrition numeracy and nutrition-related media literacy.
• Determine the reach and representativeness, adoption feasibility, degree to which the intervention was implemented as intended (and associated costs), and the maintenance of behavior changes 6 and 12 months post intervention (i.e., 18 months from baseline) when compared to control.
• Assess intervention impacts on body weight.

An exploratory aim is to:

• Assess intervention impacts on a 13C biomarker, a new non-invasive biomarker fingerstick technique for added sugar intake, and evaluate the changes in this biomarker over time.

Inclusion criteria

• Inclusion criteria included English-speaking adults >18 years of age, who consume >200 SSB kcals/day, self-report no contraindications for physical activity, and have regular access to a telephone.

Exclusion criteria

• To minimize potential confounds, only one member per household is eligible to enroll and individuals cannot be concurrently enrolled in a Cooperative Extension program because these programs focus on improving nutrition.