Consumption of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: a cross-sectional study among university students in Sarawak

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence and type of SSB among the students at a public university in Sarawak. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among undergraduate students in a public university of Malaysia. Using questionnaire, data on socio-demographic, SSB consumption, family and personal history of diabetes, knowledge on SSB intake was collected, together with anthropometry measurement. Data was analyzed using IBM SPSS version 22.0. Results: A total of 208 respondents participated in the study. About one fourth of the respondents consumed SSB at least one time daily (83.6%) and as high as 72.1% consumed SSBs more than three times a week. The top three most consumed types of SSBs were coffee, flavoured milk and 3-in-1 sachet drink (53.4 to 76.0%). Only ethnicity showed a significant association with daily intake of SSB where Malay and other ethics groups (Bumiputra Sarawak, Bumiputra Sabah, Indian and other ethnic groups) had higher daily consumption (≥1 times) of SSB compared to Chinese respondents. Other independent variables showed no significant difference between those who consumed SSB and consumed more than once per day. Conclusions: Understanding the SSB consumption among young adults is important to formulate a more effective intervention strategy especially at Malaysia with a multicultural society, in which every ethnicity has their own eating culture.