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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Food Policy and Economics
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1388918

Individuals' Perceptions of the Factors Linked to Everyday Soft Drink Consumption Among University Students: Qualitative Study

Provisionally accepted
Mohammed M. Sarhan Mohammed M. Sarhan 1*Shemaa A. Aljohani Shemaa A. Aljohani 2Yara A. Alnazzawi Yara A. Alnazzawi 2Nuorah A. Alharbi Nuorah A. Alharbi 2Shihanah E. Alotaibi Shihanah E. Alotaibi 2Ahmed S. Alhujaili Ahmed S. Alhujaili 2Maram A. Alwadi Maram A. Alwadi 3
  • 1 Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Taibah University, Medina, Al Madinah, Saudi Arabia
  • 2 College of Dentistry, Taibah University, El-Madinah El Munawarah, Saudi Arabia
  • 3 Department of Dental Health, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Soft drink consumption is continuing to grow worldwide, posing an increasing threat to people's health and general wellbeing. Consequently, we must understand the factors driving soft drink consumption to support improvements to nutrition. This paper adopts a qualitative research approach to explore individuals' perceptions of the factors linked to daily soft drink consumption among university students in Saudi Arabia.This research employed purposive sampling to recruit a total of 19 students attending university in Al Madinah Province, Saudi Arabia, all of whom reported that they had previously consumed soft drinks. Over three months, data was gathered through a mixture of online and in-person semistructured interviews. Once completed, the interviews were then transcribed and analyzed using inductive thematic analysis to identify the themes that emerged from the data.This study reveals five core themes: taste, habit, price, environment and social context, and health concerns. Regarding health concerns, this study finds that the public's increasing concerns about health can reduce people's consumption of soft drinks. Significantly, this research reveals that the rise in health concerns among the public is being driven by the growing conversation about healthy food and the negative impact of consuming sugary soft drinks occurring in wider society.To conclude, this research underlines the value of adopting a holistic approach to promoting healthier drink choices (and thus reducing soft drink consumption). Interventions that focus on factors associated with soft drink consumption, such as habits, price, environment, social settings, health concerns, and taste, will be better able to decrease soft drink consumption and improve people's nutritional intake.

    Keywords: nutrition, Health, environment, Health Promotion, Diet

    Received: 21 Feb 2024; Accepted: 08 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Sarhan, Aljohani, Alnazzawi, Alharbi, Alotaibi, Alhujaili and Alwadi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Mohammed M. Sarhan, Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Taibah University, Medina, 30001, Al Madinah, Saudi Arabia

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.