User:Aoneal11/sandboxannotatedbib

= Soft Drink Consumption Research =

Youth Obesity & Sugar Sweetened Beverages
=== PreSchoolers === The study used data from the Longitudinal Study of Child Development in Quebec, Canada to consider the influence that the consumption of sugar based drinks has on Canadian preschoolers. 1,944 Canadian children participated in the 24 hour recall in which their parents offered information on their diet in addition to their height and weight measurements. It was found that 9% more of children that consumed sweetened drinks were overweight in comparison to the children that did not. The weaknesses of the study include that it was not a random trial, the parents reported the childrens' diets, the jargon of the article was at times unclear, and although the sample size was indeed large, there was no further follow-up to see if the children's weight continued to largely increase over time.

=== Young Children === This was a longitudinal study completed with the intention of understanding if there was a correlation between sugar consumption at 4-5 and potential obesity 3-4 years later. Data from almost 3,000 children was analyzed to conclude that while there were baseline associations between the consumption of artificially sweetened beverages, the evidence was not strong enough to conclude that the measures persist for all Scottish children. While the trial was randomized and a software system was used to analyze the data, it would have been more substantial for a component of research to be added instead of analyzing already existent data.

=== Elementary Students ===

=== Fifth Graders === The project researched whether exposure to television advertisements about soft drinks and fast food led to a higher likelihood of a child becoming obese. The research initiative was inspired by the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study- conducted on Kindergarten students in the late 1990’s. More than 11,000 fifth graders were participants in the research; either the parents, students, or school administrators completed a survey. It was found that increased exposure to television advertisements about either fast food restaurants or soft drinks was tied to a 9.4% increase in the likelihood for a child to become obese. The strengths of the study that supported the evidence included a large sample size, usage of a previous longitudinal study format, and a large duration of research. Weaknesses of the study include that the findings only support the association with obesity in the context of body mass not body weight, the trial was not randomized, nor controlled; there may have been a selection bias for the participants.

=== Middle aged children === The project researched the effects of the consumption of carbonated and artificially sweetened beverages on obesity amongst middle aged children. The children were both male and female and on average were a little older than eleven years old. Amongst these children from Navarro, Spain, it was found that there was a significant correlation between childhood obesity and the consumption of carbonated and artificially sweetened beverages. While the study was not randomized, it was controlled and they also considered important exclusionary criteria like dietary restrictions for example.

=== Adolescents === The research aimed to observe the influence of sugar-sweetened beverages on the weight fluctuation of overweight and obese adolescents. The research was conducted on 224 participants, with races ranging from White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian; drinks without calories were substituted for sugar sweetened beverages. Overall, although BMI continued to increase for the participants, it did not increase as quickly for the experimental group. For Hispanic participants, there was a decrease in body fat percentage from year one to two. Strengths of the study that support the claim include a large sample size, the study was a randomized control trial, with a follow up. The weaknesses include that there are too many factors being simultaneously measured (race, length of time, weight, difference in years), adolescents include a wide range of ages- not taking into account how puberty can affect weight. The strengths however, were that results provided included considerations of race, it was a randomized control trial, they were mindful of realistic circumstances and still gave the control group typically 2 servings of sugary drinks a day, lastly, there was a high retention rate with the participant follow transition from year one to two.