International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Article Does Subjective Dietary Knowledge Affect Sugar-Sweetened Carbonated Beverages Consumption and Child Obesity? Empirical Evidence from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China Zeqi Liu 1, Wei Si 1,2, Qiran Zhao 1,2 and Chang Tao 1,* 1 College of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China;
[email protected] (Z.L.);
[email protected] (W.S.);
[email protected] (Q.Z.) 2 Academy of Global Food Economics and Policy, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China * Correspondence:
[email protected] Abstract: Worldwide, overweight and obesity have become an important public health problem affecting the health of children and adolescents. In China, the prevalence of overweight and obesity has reached 19 percent among the 6–17-year-old age group. Although studies have shown that regular consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), especially sugar-sweetened carbonated beverages (SSCBs), is positively correlated with overweight and obesity among children, the research on ways to reduce SSBs consumption is scarce. This study fills this gap by analyzing data on nearly 4000 students aged between 9–15 from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China, exploring Citation: Liu, Z.; Si, W.; Zhao, Q.; possible influential pathways between subjective dietary knowledge, SSCBs consumption, and child Tao, C. Does Subjective Dietary obesity. The estimation results show that SSCBs consumption significantly mediates the relationship Knowledge Affect Sugar-Sweetened Carbonated Beverages Consumption between dietary knowledge and the incidence of overweight and obesity; the mediated effects are and Child Obesity? Empirical different among subgroups.