Soda consumption and dietary profiles of high school students in Mississippi

Obesity and unhealthy eating remained important public health challenges among adolescents in Mississippi. This study sought to examine the associations between dining out and consumptions of fast food, 100% juice, fruits/vegetables, French fries/fried potatoes, hotdog/corn dog/hamburgers/pizza, fried food, string cheese/pizza, chips/salty snacks, sweet snacks, and regular and diet soda using ordinal logistic regression and association rules mining.

This was a cross-sectional, non-experimental study conducted at a public high school in Northwest Mississippi. The aims of this study were assessed using the ordinal logistic regression and association rules mining (ARM).

Results from ordinal logistic regression illustrated that occasional, moderate, and frequent consumption of fast food, fries and potatoes, hotdog, hamburger, pizza, fried foods, string cheese, and yogurt increased the odds of being in a higher regular soda category. Results from association rules mining also illustrated the co-occurrence of both healthy and unhealthy dietary profiles.

It is imperative to broaden the implementation of and investment in effective health promotion to better meet the basic nutritional needs and reduce obesogenic behaviors among these students, and priorities should be given to students who frequently consumed regular soda.