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Contributions of Nonalcoholic Beverages to the U.S. Diet
Oral Capps, Jr., Annette Clauson, Joanne Guthrie, Grant
Pittman, and Matthew Stockton
Economic Research Report No. (ERR-1), March 2005
Obesity is the most important nutrition-related health problem
in America today, so the caloric and nutrient contribution of
beverages to that problem is important to consider. Consumers
are offered an ever-increasing number of choices among nonalcoholic
beverages, and there is a trend toward decreased consumption
of milk and increased consumption of other beverages, especially
soft drinks and bottled water.
What Is the Issue?
Understanding households' beverage choices, especially the
choices made by low- income households and households with children,
is important to guiding the government's nutrition recommendations.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the lead Federal
agency for providing nutrition information to the public. USDA
uses the Food Guide Pyramid and related materials to give consumers
information on food and beverage choices that contribute to
a healthful diet. For example, the Food Guide Pyramid for Children
recommends two servings from the milk group daily and includes
a picture of a soft drink in the tip of the Pyramid, indicating
that soft drinks should be consumed only occasionally.
Concerns have been raised that the trend of decreased milk
consumption and increased soft drink consumption may contribute
to excess calorie consumption and declining intakes of important
nutrients such as calcium, especially for youths. Most Americans
still eat the majority of their meals at home, but food prepared
away from home—i.e., restaurant, fast-food, and take-out
foods—plays a much more important role in today's diet
than it did in previous decades. Given this shift, it is useful
to consider how the beverage choices selected for at-home consumption
may influence the beverage choices made by consumers when they
are away from home. Contributions of Nonalcoholic Beverages
to the U.S. Diet (ERR-1) focuses on the nutrient intake from
nonalcoholic beverages purchased for at home consumption. The
study focuses on calories, calcium, vitamin C, and caffeine
intake from nonalcoholic beverages.
What Did the Study Find?
Household beverage choice can strongly affect the nutritional
quality of the household food supply. A household's beverage
choices affect household caloric intake, an important consideration
given America's current obesity problem. Beverage choices also
impact calcium availability in the home food supply—our
analysis indicates more households purchased soft drinks than
milk. Using the Daily Values on the Nutrition Facts portion
of the food label as a reference, we find that nonalcoholic
beverages purchased for at-home consumption provided, on a per-
person basis:
• 10 percent of daily value for calories.
• 20 percent of the daily value for calcium.
• 70 percent of daily value for vitamin C.
The study also found that intake of calories and caffeine from
nonalcoholic beverages consumed at home is significantly higher
for households below 130 percent of the poverty level than for
other households; by contrast intake of calcium and vitamin
C from nonalcoholic beverages consumed at home is significantly
lower for households below 130 percent of the poverty level.
The study results have implications for the design of USDA
nutrition education provided through Food Stamp Nutrition Education,
the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants,
and Children (WIC), and the Child Nutrition Programs, since
improving beverage choices can add to the nutritional quality
of children's diets.
How Was the Study Conducted?
The 1999 ACNielsen Homescan data from 7,195 household panelists
provide a national representation of all household level purchases.
These data were used to analyze the types of nonalcoholic beverages
that U.S. households bought for at-home consumption. The primary
objective of the study was to understand consumer demand and
nutritional issues associated with nonalcoholic beverages purchased
for at-home use, by looking at different demographics such as
household size, household income, education level, and region.
The analyzed beverages included milk, carbonated soft drinks,
bottled water, fruit juices, fruit drinks, coffee, tea, and
isotonics (sports drinks), focusing on the available calorie,
calcium, vitamin C, and caffeine intake. Statistical analyses
included the use of descriptive cross-tabulations and regression
analyses. Profiles of households that were more likely or less
likely to purchase the beverages and key demographic determinants
associated with the probability of purchasing selected beverages
were gleaned from the analyses.
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