The present research aimed to describe perceptions and behaviours around the consumption of water and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) by youths.

A formative, qualitative study which conducted four focus groups. Transcripts were analysed and themes related to reasons youths drink SSB and water, and conversely do not drink SSB and water, were analysed to reveal thematic clusters around sensory factors, environment and policy, access, marketing and role model influences, and health risks.

A rural, tri-ethnic community in New Mexico, USA.

Middle- and high-school students, parents and teachers.

Although youths and adults were aware of the health risks of soda, they did not translate this information to other SSB, including sports drinks and sweetened tea. Moreover, their perceptions of risks of dyes outweighed their concern with sugar. Youths and adults were aware of water’s health benefits, but they focused on short-term benefits. Youths and adults perceived water as unappealing. Adults were also concerned with water safety and access.

This formative research has implications for decreasing SSB consumption and simultaneously increasing water intake among youths in rural communities. Addressing unique access and safety concerns related to water in rural communities, as well as increasing awareness of the risks of all types of SSB, can work together in a positive feedback loop to change perceptions and behaviours with long-term health consequences. Specific policy suggestions include strengthening school policies to restrict all types of SSB and water promotion efforts that address access, safety and health benefits.

This study, which to the best of our knowledge is the first of its kind, aimed to determine the acute and long-term effects of the consumption of grape and pomegranate juices on endothelium function in adolescents with metabolic syndrome, and to compare the effects of these two kinds of juices.

This randomised controlled clinical trial was conducted in 2008 among 30 adolescents, aged 12–15 years, with metabolic syndrome. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups of equal number; one group was asked to drink 18 millilitre per kilogram per day of natural grape juice and the other group was asked to drink 240 millilitre per day of natural pomegranate juice once daily for 1 month. Juices were homemade without any added sweetener. Basal brachial artery dimension and flow-mediated dilation as an index of endothelial function and endothelial-dependent dilation after receiving nitoglycerin spray were evaluated by high-resolution B mode ultrasonography before juice consumption, 4 hours and 30 days after regular daily consumption.

Flow-mediated dilation at 90 seconds and after nitoglycerin significantly improved at 4 hours and at 1 month after drinking both kinds of juices, without significant difference between the two groups. The change at 1 month versus 4 hours was significant only in the grape juice group.

Daily consumption of diets rich in antioxidants might improve endothelial function in adolescents with metabolic syndrome. These effects began as soon as 4 hours after juice consumption. Such beneficial effects should be considered in dietary recommendations for the paediatric age group, notably in obese individuals.

To describe homeless youths’ experiences of food insecurity and examine the relation between chronic food deprivation and food acquisition practices.

A cross-sectional survey of homeless youths was conducted in 2003 to assess their nutritional vulnerability and describe their food acquisition practices.

Toronto, Canada.

Two hundred and sixty-one youths, aged 16–24 years, who had spent ten or more of the past thirty nights sleeping in a temporary shelter, public space or friend’s place, because they had no place of their own. Most participant recruitment (70 %) occurred outdoors, but 30 % were recruited in drop-in centres.

Over the past 30 d, 28 % of males and 43 % of females experienced chronic food deprivation (i.e. reduced food intake for ≥10 d), and 32 % of females and 48 % of males reported problems obtaining water to drink. Most youths routinely obtained meals at charitable programmes and panhandled for money for food, and many routinely stole food or ate day-old food obtained from restaurants. In contrast, eating food discarded by others and postponing debt payments were strategies of desperation, more common among youths experiencing chronic food deprivation. Additionally, for males, deliberately seeking the company of friends, relatives or acquaintances to obtain food, and for females, borrowing money or trading sex for food, were associated with chronic food deprivation.

The pervasiveness and severity of food insecurity experienced by the youths and their desperate means of food acquisition highlight the need for more effective responses to the plight of homeless youths in Canadian cities.