Reducing the purchase and consumption of sugary beverages in howard county, MD: A web-based tool for parents

Sugar-sweetened beverages are now a staple of the American diet, and are one of the biggest factors contributing to the obesity epidemic. The challenge was to help the Horizon Foundation and a local strategic communications firm reverse the obesity trend in Maryland's Howard County, population 300,000, situated between Washington, DC, and Baltimore, MD. In response, we decided to build and promote a Better Beverage Finder, an online and mobile platform that allows users to sort through more than 300 healthy beverages sorted by beverage type, sweetener, suitability for children and presence of caffeine. The approach was to reveal a visible, emerging norm of moms unwilling to give children sugary drinks, and make it easier for every parent to do so (efficacy) by offering them a taste of more attractive choices. The Better Beverage Finder content was populated using online search engines to discover beverages that meet expert nutritional guidelines and that are sold in Howard County. The Better Beverage Finder launched under the ‘Howard County Unsweetened' campaign, which includes a separate advocacy component, in December 2012. The campaign websites featuring the Better Beverage Finder received over 9,000 visits during the first six months of the campaign. The impact evaluation component for the Better Beverage Finder, which will include intercept interviews at central locations, will take place in the fall of 2013 after the first year of implementation. A larger campaign evaluation measuring trends in beverage purchases, consumption and obesity will also be conducted.