Table 3.
Priority research questions in the national research agenda by key issue area
| Key issue area | Important to address in next 5 years1 | Overall most important2 | 2nd–5th most important3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Measures of consumption and baseline understanding of consumption patterns | |||
| 1. What are the beverage consumption patterns of 0–5-year-olds and how do these consumption patterns differ by setting and among priority populations? | x | x | |
| Beverages in the food retail environment | |||
| 2. What mix of price, promotion, placement, including check-out or other in-store marketing, would be effective in shifting the mix of beverages sold (and consumed) to decrease SSB and increase water consumption among 0–5 year olds, especially for priority populations? | x | x | |
| 3. What is the comparative effectiveness of various modifications to the SNAP programme (retailer standards, SSB restrictions, healthy beverage incentives) in improving beverage patterns of 0–5-year-olds? | x | ||
| Recommendations for beverage consumption in early childhood | |||
| 4. What are the evidence-based, culturally-appropriate recommendations for water, SSB, milk and flavoured milk, and 100 % juice intake for children from birth to age 5? How can these recommendations, once developed, be disseminated effectively? | x | x | x |
| 5. What are current healthcare provider practices regarding recommendations to parents and caregivers about water safety, access, and consumption? And what are effective methods to ensure healthcare providers are providing consistent messages? | x | x | |
| Retail price of SSB and water | |||
| 6. What is the influence of SSB taxes on parent/caregiver purchases, beverage intake, and health outcomes among 0–5-year-olds from priority populations and their families? | x | x | |
| Beverage substitution | |||
| 7. What are culturally-appropriate, healthy substitutes for SSB among priority populations? Does promoting water as the only healthy substitute alienate certain high-risk groups? | x | x | |
| Fruit-flavoured drinks and artificially sweetened drinks | |||
| 8. What aspects of product packaging of fruit-flavoured drinks, including nutrition claims, images, or shape, mislead parents to believe these are healthy options for children? How do these elements of product packaging affect product purchases? What is the impact of using the same techniques that are used to promote fruit-flavoured drinks to instead encourage purchase of water? | x | x | x |
| 9. How do perceptions of fruit-flavoured drinks and packaging (nutrient claims, images, shapes) differ between priority populations? How does an individual’s country of origin affect these perceptions? | x | x | x |
| Healthcare interventions to improve beverage consumption patterns | |||
| 10. What is the impact of education/counselling in paediatric oral healthcare settings about SSB and water consumption on beverage patterns of 0–5-year-olds and what are best practices for counselling in this setting? | x | x | |
| 11. What guidance are healthcare providers currently providing pregnant women regarding beverage consumption? What is the impact of a pre-natal healthy beverage educational programme provided in a clinical setting (i.e. by OB/GYNs, nurse practitioners, nurse midwives) on maternal and infant beverage intake patterns and health outcomes? | x | ||
| Access to safe water and tap water perception | |||
| 12. What is the impact of integrating a water security screening questionnaire into the Electronic Health Record and designing appropriate interventions for water insecure individuals on water intake, other beverage intake, and health outcomes among 0–5-year-olds? | x | x | |
| Achieving equity in beverage consumption patterns and addressing the social determinants of health | |||
| 13. Among priority populations, what are the determinants of and attitudes about SSB, 100 % juice, water, and artificially-sweetened beverage consumption? What is the effectiveness of evidence-based strategies to reduce SSB consumption and increase water access and consumption in priority populations? | x | x | X |
| 14. Among priority populations, what is the impact of leveraging cultural beliefs such as water as wealth or water as life or emphasizing returning to indigenous practices in programmes or policies on water and SSB intake among 0–5-year-olds? | X | ||
| Beverage consumption in childcare settings | |||
| 15. What family engagement strategies are effective in reducing SSB consumption and increasing water consumption in and outside of childcare settings by specific region, cultural group or other community identity? What kind of capacity building with childcare providers may be necessary to implement these family engagement strategies? | x | x | x |
| 16. Where and why do childcare providers (centre-based, family childcare home, military, family, friend and neighbour care) purchase and serve the beverages that they do? How does this differ among priority populations? | x | x | |
| 17. To what degree are beverage policies in early care and education environments (CACFP, Head Start, state and local licensing) being implemented? What is the current state of monitoring of these policies and practices? | x | ||
1
Meeting participants were asked to vote for the most important question to address in next 5 years.
2
Meeting participants were asked to vote for the overall most important question.
3
Meeting participants were asked to vote for the second–fifth most important questions.
4
Research question was discussed at the in-person meeting but not included in prioritization activity.
x Questions with an ‘x’ ranked in the top 10 (out of 59) in number of votes for one of the three prioritization categories. In some cases, there was a tie so 11 questions have an x.