Sugary Drinks May Be Making Kids Fat
Parents urged to offer less-sweet but healthier choices for their children

(HealthDay News) -- When your child cries, "I'm thirsty!" think about what you're serving up.

In a Canadian study, preschoolers who regularly consumed sugar-sweetened beverages were more than twice as likely to be overweight as children who didn't have sugary drinks.

"This study adds to the scientific evidence that sugar-sweetened beverages contribute to childhood obesity," Dr. Y. Claire Wang, a research associate in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Harvard School of Public Health, told HealthDay .

In the United States , childhood obesity is considered a national crisis. Today, 12.5 million children are overweight, according to the U.S. Surgeon General's office. Overweight kids face a greater risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and other health problems.

And over the years, research has suggested that sugar-sweetened beverages play at least some role in promoting obesity. In 2001, researchers from Children's Hospital Boston and the Harvard School of Public Health conducted a long-term study of soda and sugar-sweetened beverage consumption on children's body weight. The study, published in The Lancet , found that for each additional serving of sugar-sweetened drink consumed, the risk of obesity increased.

In 2005, a commentary in the Journal of Pediatrics reviewed the evidence on soft drinks and childhood obesity. Dr. Robert Murray, director of the Center for Health, Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus , Ohio , and his colleagues found that although many factors are involved in obesity, the role that added sugar plays should not be ignored. Added sugars make up 18 to 20 percent of a child's daily energy, and 40 percent of that comes from sweetened soft drinks, they noted.

More recently, the Canadian researchers examined the consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages between meals by more than 1,900 children born in 1998. The children's parents filled out questionnaires when their children were 2½, 3½ and 4½ years old to determine how frequently sugary drinks were consumed.

"Sugar-sweetened beverages" included regular or non-diet carbonated drinks and fruit-flavored drinks but not pure fruit juices.

At age 4½, more than 15 percent of the children who drank sugar-sweetened beverages regularly between meals, meaning at least four to six times a week, were overweight, whereas only 7 percent of children who didn't regularly consume sugary drinks were overweight.

The study points to the role that family plays in providing access to sugar-sweetened beverages.

"Their children are not old enough to buy their own beverages, so, in this case, the products are in the house, and the parents are giving these drinks to their children," study author Lise Dubois, an associate professor of epidemiology and community medicine at the University of Ottawa , told HealthDay .

Parents can help their children make better choices by teaching them about the nutritional and calorie benefits and drawbacks of difference beverages, according to the University of Minnesota Extension Service . To help kids develop healthy drinking habits, it suggests that parents:

• Offer milk, 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice, or water for snacks and meals.
• Read beverage labels to check for sugar content and other nutritional facts.
• Talk with children about why soda and fruit drinks are less healthy options. The high amounts of added sugar can lead to health problems, including a risk for tooth decay and weight gain.
• Talk to children about their likes and dislikes and choose drinks that children prefer from among the healthier options.
• Try different kinds of healthy beverages to give children more choices, such as flavored milk or new fruit juice blends.
• Don't forget to compliment children on their healthy beverage choices.

On the Web

To learn more about sweet drinks and obesity, check out information from the University of California, San Francisco, Children's Hospital.

SOURCES: HealthDay News ; Lise Dubois, Ph.D., Dt.P, Canada Research Chair in Nutrition and Population Health, and associate professor, Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Y. Claire Wang, M.D., research associate, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston; Feb 15, 2001, news release, Harvard School of Public Health; June 2007, Journal of the American Dietetic Association ; May 2005, Journal of Pediatrics ; University of Minnesota Extension Service, St. Paul, Minn.; Office of the U.S. Surgeon General (www.surgeongeneral.gov)
Author: Karen Pallarito
Publication Date: June 30, 2008
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