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

Nana Gletsu Miller · with Purdue University · NCT07223151

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Key facts

Compensation
Not posted. Ask the study team before screening.
Who can join
Ages 12–18 · All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Study type
Interventional · Not applicable
Target enrollment
63
US sites recruiting
2
Study start
July 25, 2025
Record last updated
August 6, 2026

Status re-checked against ClinicalTrials.gov within the last 12 hours.

What the study is about

The goal of this clinical trial is to test whether replacing sugary sodas with unsweetened, flavored sparkling waters can reduce added sugar intake and improve health in Black/African American and Latine adolescents with obesity who prefer sweet-tasting beverages. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Does replacing sugary sodas with water change liking for sugary drinks, and water?
  • Do shifts in liking for sweetness lead to improved diet quality and cardiometabolic health?

Researchers will compare replacing sugary sodas with one of three alternative beverages: unsweetened sparkling water, plain water, and beverages with gradually reduced sugar to determine which strategy is most effective.

Participants will

  • Replace sugary sodas with study drinks for 4 weeks
  • Complete taste tests to measure their liking for and sensory experience of sweetness over 8-weeks
  • Provide dietary recalls, body measurements, and blood samples over 8-weeks

Being studied: Unsweetened Sparkling Water Replacement; Progressively Reduced Sugar Beverage Replacement; Plain Water Replacement

Conditions: Obesity, Adolescent; Dietary Sugars; Taste Perception; Insulin Resistance; Feeding Behavior

Eligibility criteria

Copied from the official record. The study team makes the final decision at screening.

Show full criteria

Inclusion Criteria

  • 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 Criteria

  • 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.

Recruiting US locations

  • Indiana University Hospital

    Indianapolis, IN 46202

    Site contact: Nana Gletsu Miller, PhD · 812-855-7643 · ngletsum@iu.edu

  • Purdue University

    West Lafayette, IN 47907

    Site contact: Cordelia Running, PhD · 765-494-2282 · crunning@purdue.edu

Study contacts (from the official record)

  • Nana Gletsu Miller, PhD · +1 (812) 855-9110 · ngletsum@iu.edu
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A Sensory Strategy to Cut Sugary Beverages in African/American and… (NCT07223151) | Bored Studies