According to a new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report published on 13 September in the NCHS Data Brief, American children drink more water than fruit drinks or soda.
Together with milk, water accounted for two-thirds of the beverages consumed by children aged 2-19 from the US between 2013 and 2016.
This study is great news, adding to the evidence that soda and sweet drinks have seen a huge drop in the last decade.
A senior clinical nutritionist at NYU Langone Medical Center (New York City), Samantha Heller, said:
“It is good news that kids are consuming less sugar-sweetened beverages and more water and milk, including plant-based milks.”
Research Shows Difference of Water Consumption Among U.S. Youth
Kirsten Herrick, an epidemiologist at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), and the lead researcher of the study, explains that:
“Beverage consumption is not the same for all U.S. youth. Since beverages contribute to hydration, energy, and vitamin and mineral intake, these choices can impact diet quality and total caloric intake.”
The researchers also found that there are some factors which determined what kids drank – such as gender and ethnicity.
For example, 30% of the daily beverage consumed by black children and teens was soda, compared to 22% for Hispanics, 18% for whites and 9% for Asians.
Another interesting information was that boys drank more milk than water compared to girls.
The researchers concluded that overall, water was consumed for almost 44% of all beverages, followed by milk – 22%, soda 20%, fruit juice (100% variety) – 7% and other drinks – 8%.
As they age, children drink less milk and juice and swap to water and soda, added the report.
As for ethnicity/race, Asian children consumed more than 55% water, black children 38%, Hispanic kids 40%, and white kids 46%.
Heller explained that the difference among race is “disturbing, but not surprising, since research has found that there is aggressive marketing of sugar-sweetened beverages to younger people, especially black and Hispanic youths.”
Doris’s passion for writing started to take shape in college where she was editor-in-chief of the college newspaper. Even though she ended up working in IT for more than 7 years, she’s now back to what he always enjoyed doing. With a true passion for technology, Doris mostly covers tech-related topics.