Beverage Intake, Smoking Behavior, and Alcohol Consumption in Contemporary China—A Cross-Sectional Analysis from the 2011 China Health and Nutrition Survey

Abstract

Chinese residents enjoy various types of beverages in their daily life. With the rapid Westernization of contemporary China, several adverse health concerns—such as diabetes linked to sweetened beverages—have emerged. Until now, no research that examines associations between beverage consumption and smoking/drinking behaviors has been made available, despite the large Chinese populations partaking in such activities. We conducted a cross-sectional study to explore the association between beverage intake frequencies and smoking/drinking behaviors in 12,634 adult respondents who participated in the latest wave (2011) of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS). Further, we applied Tukey’s Honest Significance test for pairwise comparisons. We defined the consumption categories as daily (at least one serving per day), weekly (less than one serving per day, at least one serving per week), monthly (less than one serving per week, at least one serving per month), and less than monthly or none—for sweetened beverage, water, tea, and coffee consumptions. The data showed that both tea and sweetened beverages are associated with smoking/drinking behaviors. Compared to respondents who consume tea and sweetened beverages daily, the odds of smoking behaviors are lower for those who consume such beverages less frequently. Further policy implications are discussed, including higher taxes on sweetened beverages and lessons from other countries.

Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Contribute Significantly to College Students’ Daily Caloric Intake in Jordan: Soft Drinks Are Not the Major Contributor

“…Daily cigarette smoking was reported by 22.6% of students. Several studies have investigated the associations between SSB intake and some unhealthy behaviors such as smoking and physical inactivity [39,40,41,42]. We observed statistically significant differences in caloric intake from SSB between smokers and non-smokers ( p = 0.009).…”

“…We observed statistically significant differences in caloric intake from SSB between smokers and non-smokers ( p = 0.009). Similarly, Lee et al also reported that the frequency of SSB consumption was strongly associated with smoking behaviors [40]. Their researchers found that non-daily consumers of SSB had lower odds of being smokers than those with daily consumption (OR: 0.46, 95% CI = 0.31–0.68).…”

Prevalence of smoking and its association with health-related behaviours among Iranian university students: a large-scale study

“…Haibach et al reported that fruit, but not vegetable, consumption among American adolescents was inversely associated with smoking frequency (59). In a cross-sectional study in China among individuals who consumed tea and sweetened beverages daily, the likelihood of smoking behaviours was lower for those who consumed these beverages less frequently (60). In a study in South Korea, consumption of fruits and dairy products was lower among smokers than non-smokers, and smokers consumed fast foods more often than nonsmokers (61).…”

Assessing the Association of Food Preferences and Self-Reported Psychological Well-Being among Middle-Aged and Older Adults in Contemporary China-Results from the China Health and Nutrition Survey

“…In just the ten-year span from 2000 to 2010, the daily per capita sales of Pepsi and Coca-Cola increased by 127% and 145%, respectively [ 31 ]. Not only does liking sweetened beverages increase the risk of NCDs, such as diabetes [ 32 ], but sweetened beverage intake is also strongly associated with Chinese adults’ smoking behavior; frequent sweetened beverage consumers are more likely to smoke [ 33 ]. However, similar to the findings regarding fast food and salty snacks, we observed that sweetened beverage preference among older Chinese adults does not always disagree with psychological well-being statements.…”