TY - JOUR
T1 - The role of water insecurity in influencing water and sugar-sweetened beverage choices
T2 - A scoping review
AU - Ewoldt, Laina
AU - Duran, Ana Clara
AU - Diawara, Checkna
AU - Batis, Carolina
AU - Wallace, Deshira D.
AU - Taillie, Paul
AU - Miller, Joshua D.
AU - Ng, Shu Wen
AU - Cronk, Ryan
AU - Taillie, Lindsey Smith
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 Ewoldt et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2025/5
Y1 - 2025/5
N2 - Water is a critical nutrient for human health, however more than 4 billion people globally lack access to safe drinking water and climate change is expected to worsen water insecurity. Simultaneously, consumption of packaged water and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is increasing globally. Despite many plausible linkages, little is known about the relationship between water insecurity and sugar-sweetened or packaged beverage selection. The current study aimed to characterize the relationship between water insecurity and beverage selection by conducting a scoping review to identify trends in available research on beverage selection among individuals experiencing water insecurity, and creating a conceptual model explaining this relationship. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guided the systematic search of 4 databases, which resulted in the inclusion of 82 studies from 7 geographical regions, representing both middle- and high- income countries. Key emergent themes included perceptions of non-packaged water characteristics, adaptive behaviors, and how each alter consumer selection of packaged water and SSBs. Frequently mentioned non-packaged water characteristics included perceived safety (n=49; 60%), taste (n=31; 38%), convenience/accessibility (n=29; 35%), cost (n=18; 22%), appearance/turbidity (n=12; 15%), smell (n=10; 12%), temperature (n=9; 11%), and hardness (n=5; 6%). Reported adaptive strategies included water treatment/filtering (n = 25; 30%) and water testing (n = 5; 6%). Associations between water insecurity and non-packaged water, packaged water, and SSB selection varied by country income classification and demographic characteristics. These can inform potential areas for future interventional trials aiming to increase trust in and selection of plain water as well as reduce reliance on packaged or sugar-sweetened beverages.
AB - Water is a critical nutrient for human health, however more than 4 billion people globally lack access to safe drinking water and climate change is expected to worsen water insecurity. Simultaneously, consumption of packaged water and sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) is increasing globally. Despite many plausible linkages, little is known about the relationship between water insecurity and sugar-sweetened or packaged beverage selection. The current study aimed to characterize the relationship between water insecurity and beverage selection by conducting a scoping review to identify trends in available research on beverage selection among individuals experiencing water insecurity, and creating a conceptual model explaining this relationship. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guided the systematic search of 4 databases, which resulted in the inclusion of 82 studies from 7 geographical regions, representing both middle- and high- income countries. Key emergent themes included perceptions of non-packaged water characteristics, adaptive behaviors, and how each alter consumer selection of packaged water and SSBs. Frequently mentioned non-packaged water characteristics included perceived safety (n=49; 60%), taste (n=31; 38%), convenience/accessibility (n=29; 35%), cost (n=18; 22%), appearance/turbidity (n=12; 15%), smell (n=10; 12%), temperature (n=9; 11%), and hardness (n=5; 6%). Reported adaptive strategies included water treatment/filtering (n = 25; 30%) and water testing (n = 5; 6%). Associations between water insecurity and non-packaged water, packaged water, and SSB selection varied by country income classification and demographic characteristics. These can inform potential areas for future interventional trials aiming to increase trust in and selection of plain water as well as reduce reliance on packaged or sugar-sweetened beverages.
UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105005893592
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pstr.0000174
DO - 10.1371/journal.pstr.0000174
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:105005893592
SN - 2767-3197
VL - 4
JO - PLOS Sustainability and Transformation
JF - PLOS Sustainability and Transformation
IS - 5
M1 - e0000174
ER -