Limitations
memory loss
ADIPOSITY
This study has several methodological limitations. Our primary outcome, SSB consumption, is based on the study participant’s self-reported intake. Although we used validated instruments, self-report measures tend to undercount actual consumption due to memory loss and social acceptability bias. We were able to conduct validity checks of these data against respondent self-reports of dietary sugars in a food frequency instrument. Self-reports of SSB consumption correlated with objective measures of BMI and waist circumference. Another limitation is the potential for unobserved site-level variation. The sales ban was administered at the site level, and demographic analyses of the sample revealed that participant baseline characteristics varied somewhat across participants in the intervention and control conditions, specifically on race/ethnicity and BMI. Because experimental condition was assigned at the site level and the study was limited to eight sites, we were unable to use site in the models to more broadly address variation between locations. However, models controlled some variation by including demographic variables as controls collected at the individual level. Lastly, due to COVID-19 restrictions, we were not able to examine the effects of the intervention on potential changes in adiposity.