Characteristics of parents receiving counseling from child's doctor to limit child's sugar drink consumption.

BACKGROUND: Due to limited information on sugar drink counseling, characteristics of parents who reported ever receiving counseling from a child's doctor to limit a child's sugar drink intake were examined. METHODS: This cross-sectional analysis was conducted on a convenient sample of 1570 US parents (aged ≥ 18 years) using the 2009 HealthStyles Survey. The outcome measure was parents with children aged ≤ 18 years who reported being told by a child's doctor to limit a child's sugar drink intake. Data were weighted to provide national estimates. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine factors associated with ever receiving sugar-drink counseling from a child's doctor. RESULTS: Only 23% of parents reported receiving counseling from a child's doctor to limit a child's sugar drink intake. Parental factors significantly associated with receiving this counseling were: being male (adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 1.38; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.02, 1.86), having an annual household income of <$25 000 (versus ≥$60 000, OR = 2.12; 95% CI = 1.33, 3.38) and parents who agreed with 'enjoying learning about health issues' (versus disagree, OR = 2.43; 95% CI = 1.36, 4.36). Age, race/ethnicity, education and marital status were not significantly associated with receiving counseling. CONCLUSIONS: Few parents reported ever receiving counseling from a child's doctor, and we found a few differences among those reporting sugar drink counseling.