The Urban Adolescents’ Perception on Sugar-sweetened Beverages and Food Label: A Photovoice Study

: The trend of sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption in Indonesia has been increased in the past decade from 253 million litres to 780 million litres a year. High sugar diet has been linked to the increased risk of diabetes mellitus via the lack of regulation on hepatic uptake. Adolescents are the most prone to risk of high consumption of SSB because of the affordability, influence of marketing, and influence from peers. The affordability of SSB is also often related to the less awareness to read the food label (nutritional label and halal label) in the package. Therefore, this study aimed to explore perceptions of adolescents in Jakarta, Indonesia about SSB and food label by using Photovoice method. The Photovoice study involved five adolescents (three males, two females) recruited from Muhammadiyah 11 Jakarta High School, Indonesia to participate in two sessions of Focus Group Discussion (FGD) conducted between May – June 2021. The transcripts from FGDs were analysed using SHOWeD methodology approach sorted by the perception on SSB consumption and food label (nutritional and halal label). Participants reported that peer group influence their decision to purchase SSB. Moreover, price, location, and brand also define the consideration to choose certain products. Participants rarely read the food label as it is considered as time-consuming activity even though they knew that it is important. Halal label also not become a priority on choosing product, mostly because of the brand trust and the safe feeling as they are living in a Muslim majority country.