A Sensory Strategy to Cut Sugary Beverages in African/American and Latine Adolescents

This study is looking at ways to help Black/African American and Latine teenagers, aged 12 to 18, who have obesity and prefer very sweet drinks, to reduce their sugar intake. Researchers want to see if replacing sugary sodas with other drinks can change how much you like sweet drinks and improve your health. You would replace your sugary sodas with one of three options: unsweetened sparkling water, plain water, or drinks with sugar that gradually decreases over time. The main goal is to see if these changes affect your preference for sweet drinks and lead to better diet and heart health. The study plans to enroll 63 participants.

Study design: This is a randomized controlled trial with 63 participants. You would be assigned to one of three groups to test different ways of replacing sugary drinks.
What's involved: You would replace all your sugary sodas with a study beverage for 4 weeks. There will be assessments at the start, week 2, week 4, and week 8.
Compensation: Not stated in the trial record.
Follow-up: You will be followed for 4 weeks after the main 4-week intervention period, with assessments at week 8.

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A Sensory Strategy to Cut Sugary Beverages in African/American and Latine Adolescents

Recruiting

NAAges 12–18InterventionalPrevention

Nana Gletsu Miller

~63 participants

Updated 2026-08-06 on ClinicalTrials.gov

What's tested:Unsweetened Sparkling Water ReplacementProgressively Reduced Sugar Beverage ReplacementPlain Water Replacement

At a glance

Recruiting sites

2 of 3 listed sites are recruiting right now

RecruitingSuspended, closed, or not yet open

What they're measuring

Liking ratings changes for sugar concentrations over time

Measured over Baseline, Week 2, Week 4, Week 8

Conditions

Obesity, Adolescent

Dietary Sugars

Taste Perception

Insulin Resistance

Feeding Behavior

Where it's being run

3 sites across 1 states

Indiana3

Who to contact

Nana Gletsu Miller, PhD

[email protected]

+1 (812) 855-9110

Email the study team

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Do you actually qualify for this trial?

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Eligibility criteria

Inclusion

Adolescents ages 12 to 18 who display a "sweet-liker" pattern, characterized by a preference for higher concentrations of sugar in beverages, specifically identifying 0.3M (10.3% sucrose) or above as their most liked sample.

Adolescents consumes sugar-sweetened soda greater than or equal to 2 times per week. Adolescents must also indicate a willingness to drink study beverages; not currently dieting/changing diet.

Exclusion

Adolescent participant is pregnant, since pregnancy affects taste perception

Participant is allergic or intolerant to the items we are testing.

Adolescent with type 1 or type 2 diabetes (self-declared or detected at screening visit through fasting glucose)

Use of GLP-1 receptor agonists intended for weight loss.

What this trial measures

Liking ratings changes for sugar concentrations over timeBaseline, Week 2, Week 4, Week 8
Our primary outcome is the interaction of time with liking for different sugar concentrations. We expect to observe a significant Time\*Sugar Concentration interaction effect for these liking ratings. We expect the interaction term to show that higher concentrations of sugar had lower liking ratings by weeks 4 and 8 (compared to baseline), but that lower concentrations of sugar had higher liking ratings by weeks 4 and 8. Liking ratings are collected on a scale from -110 to 110, with internal markings at -100 Worst ever, -50 Dislike, 0 Neutral, 50 Like, 100 Best ever.

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