MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Lori Spruance PhD Assistant Professor, Public Health College of Life Sciences Brigham Young University MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: I was interested in studying this phenomenon after I attended a research conference presentation where the presenter was describing results from a study where they found that children between ages 6-11 who were physically active drank more sugar-sweetened beverages than children in that age group who were not physically active. The presenter suggested that they believed this was due to youth sports and Gatorade consumption. I was really intrigued by the fact that kids were getting physical activity, but had really high sugar-sweetened beverage intake. Prior to the study, I did some qualitative interviews with parents of children involved in youth sports. During these interviews, parents discussed the “snack culture” and the shame they sometimes feel being the “healthy parent”. I really wanted to investigate further what was happening. (more…)