Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30406003›Full record

ArticlePreventive medicine reports2018

Impact of warning labels on sugar-sweetened beverages on parental selection: An online experimental study.

Eleni Mantzari, Milica Vasiljevic, Isabelle Turney, Mark Pilling, Theresa Marteau

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Preventive medicine reports, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
39citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
19.5field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

39 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 147 citations in OpenAlex.

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  8. Exploring the Potential for Graphic Warning Labels to Reduce Intentions to Consume Energy Drinks.Health promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals · 2025
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  9. How pictorial warnings change parents' purchases of sugar-sweetened beverage for their children: mechanisms of impact.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2023
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  11. A randomised experimental study comparing perceptions of two energy drink health warning labels.Health promotion journal of Australia : official journal of Australian Association of Health Promotion Professionals · 2023
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  16. Health Warnings and Beverage Purchase Behavior: Mediators of Impact.Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine · 2020
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Eleni MantzariBehaviour and Health Research Unit, University of Cambridge, UK.
Milica VasiljevicBehaviour and Health Research Unit, University of Cambridge, UK.
Isabelle TurneyDepartment of Psychology, University of Cambridge, UK.
Mark PillingBehaviour and Health Research Unit, University of Cambridge, UK.
Theresa MarteauBehaviour and Health Research Unit, University of Cambridge, UK.
University of Cambridge · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) are one of the largest added sugar sources to diets in the UK and USA, particularly among young people. Warning labels, including calorie information labels, could reduce SSB consumption but uncertainty surrounds the labels that are most effective. This study assessed the impact of labels containing (a) each of two image-based warnings and (b) calorie information, singly and together, on SSB selection by parents of 11-16-year-olds living in the UK. Using a 3 (disease image, sugar content image, no image) × 2 (calorie information, no calorie information) between-subjects experimental design, 2002 participants were randomised to see beverages with one of six labels and selected one for their child to consume. The primary outcome was the proportion of participants selecting an SSB. Data were collected in December 2017. Logistic regressions showed SSB selection was lower when labels contained an image-based warning (35%), compared to not having any label (49%) or just calorie information (43.5%). The disease image lowered selection more than the sugar image (32% vs 40.5%). Providing calorie information with the disease image had no additional impact on selection (33%) but enhanced the impact of the sugar image (36%). Image-based warning labels discourage SSB selection by parents for their children. Images depicting health consequences of excess sugar consumption have larger effects than those depicting sugar content. Calorie information does not add to the effect of the former but does to that of the latter. Field studies are needed to assess the impact of SSB warning labels in real-life settings.

Indexed as

Calorie labelsEnergy informationGraphic warningsImage-based labelsSSBsSSBs, Sugar Sweetened BeveragesSugar-sweetened beveragesWarning labels

Identifiers

PMID30406003
PMCPMC6215029
OpenAlexW2897263471

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.