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(PTFS16-07-26) State-Level Differences in Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption by Income Among Children Aged 1–5 Years, United States, 2021–2023

Monday, July 27, 2026
12:54 PM - 12:58 PM ET
Location: Prince George's Hall B-E (The Hub) - Poster Theater 2 / Poster Board Number: PT2-7

    Presenting Author(s)

  • AK

    Alain Koyama, ScD

    Epidemiologist
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
    Atlanta, Georgia, United States

    Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

    • Co-Author(s)

  • PD

    Priya M. Das, PhD, MPH

    Epidemiologist
    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
    Chamblee, Georgia, United States

  • LM

    Latetia V. Moore

    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States

  • MG

    Mary Ellen Grap

    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States

  • JS

    Julie L. Self

    Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States

Disclosure(s):
Alain Koyama, ScD: No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
Objectives: Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption among young children can be associated with obesity and other adverse health outcomes. Consumption varies by socioeconomic factors such as household income and geographic region, although how these factors might jointly affect SSB consumption is unknown. We evaluated state-level associations between income-to-poverty (IPR) ratio and SSB consumption among children aged 1 to 5 years in the United States.

Methods: We conducted a pooled cross-sectional study of 55,399 children 1 to 5 years using 2021–2023 National Survey of Children’s Health data. We estimated prevalence of SSB consumption ≥4 times per week by household IPR ( < 130%, 130–349%, ≥350%) and state. Multivariable logistic regression evaluated the association between IPR and SSB consumption after adjusting for age, sex, and race and ethnicity.

Results: Nationally, 21.1% [95% confidence interval (CI): 20.2–21.9] of children consumed SSBs ≥4 times per week, and this varied significantly by IPR ( < 130%: 33.1% [95% CI: 30.7–35.6%], 130–349%: 22.4% [95% CI: 21.0–23.9%], ≥350%: 12.1% [95% CI: 11.2–13.0%]). Substantial geographic variation was observed; SSB consumption ranged from 8.6% (95% CI: 6.4–11.3%) in Vermont to 33.7% (95% CI: 28.9–38.8%) in Mississippi. In multivariable models, children from households with a lower IPR ( < 130% compared with ≥350%) had significantly higher SSB consumption for most states, although the magnitude of this association differed by state.

Conclusions: Overall and for the majority of states, higher IPR was associated with a lower percentage of children drinking SSBs ≥4 times a week, though the prevalence and magnitude of this association substantially varied by state.

Funding Sources: None