A multi-level, multi-component obesity intervention (Obesity Prevention and Evaluation of InterVention Effectiveness in NaTive North Americans) decreases soda intake in Native American adults

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a multi-level, multi-component (MLMC) adult obesity intervention on beverage intake in Native American adults living in five geographically and culturally diverse tribal communities. DESIGN: A 14-month, community-randomised, MLMC design was utilised, with three communities randomised to Intervention and two communities randomised to Comparison. FFQ were administered pre- and post-interventions, and difference-in-differences (DiD) analysis was used to assess intervention impact on beverage intake. SETTING: The intervention took place within food stores, worksites, schools and selected media outlets located in the five communities. Key activities included working with store owners to stock healthy beverages, display and dispersal of educational materials, support of policies that discouraged unhealthy beverage consumption at worksites and schools and taste tests. PARTICIPANTS: Data were collected from 422 respondents between the ages of 18 and 75 living in the five communities pre-intervention; of those, 299 completed post-intervention surveys. Only respondents completing both pre- and post-intervention surveys were included in the current analysis. RESULTS: The DiD for daily servings of regular, sugar-sweetened soda from pre- to post-intervention was significant, indicating a significant decrease in Intervention communities (P < 0·05). No other changes to beverage intake were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Large, MLMC obesity interventions can successfully reduce the intake of regular, sugar-sweetened soda in Native American adults. This is important within modern food environments where sugar-sweetened beverages are a primary source of added sugars in Native American diets.