CDC Features - Reducing Access to Sugar-sweetened Beverages Among Youth

CDC Features - Reducing Access to Sugar-sweetened Beverages Among Youth:
Reducing Access to Sugar-sweetened Beverages Among Youth

Youth should drink fewer sugar-sweetened beverages and more water and low-fat or fat-free milk, or limited amounts of 100% fruit juices. Families, schools, and other institutions need to provide healthy beverage choices.

Sugar-sweetened beverages are the largest source of added sugars in the diet of U.S. youth.1 Consuming these beverages increases the intake of calories—a factor potentially contributing to obesity among youth nationwide.2

Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years. Obesity among children aged 6 to 11 years increased from 6.5% in 1980 to 19.6% in 2008. Among adolescents aged 12 to 19 years, obesity increased from 5.0% to 18.1%.3,4 In recent decades, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages among children and adolescents has been increasing.5,6 Boys aged 12–19 years consume an average of 22.0 ounces of full-calorie soda drink per day—more than twice their daily intake of fluid milk (9.8 ounces); girls consume an average of 14.3 ounces of full-calorie soda and 6.3 ounces of fluid milk per day.7

Results from the 2010 National Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Study (NYPANS)—a school-based survey that collected information on physical activity and dietary behaviors among a nationally representative sample of high school students—underscore the need to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. Survey findings, published in a CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) entitled 'Beverage Consumption Among High School Students—United States, 2010,' show that although water, milk, and 100% fruit juice were the beverages most commonly consumed during the 7 days before the survey, daily consumption of regular soda or pop, sports drinks, and other sugar-sweetened beverages also is prevalent in this population, especially among male and black students. In addition, among high school students, nearly two thirds consumed any combination of these beverages on a daily basis, and almost one third of students consumed any combination of these beverages two or more times per day.

The percentage of high school students who drank a can, bottle, or glass of selected beverages one or more times per day during the 7 days before the NYPANS*
[see inside please]

What You Can Do
Youth should

* Reduce their consumption of regular soda or pop, sports drinks, and other sugar-sweetened beverages.
* Increase their consumption of water and low-fat or fat-free milk.
* Drink limited amounts of 100% fruit juices.

To support youth in making healthy beverage choices, families, schools, and other youth-serving institutions should

* Reduce youths' access to sugar-sweetened beverages to decrease consumption.
* Encourage adolescents to drink water and low-fat or fat-free milk, or limited amounts of 100% fruit juices, as an option.

Moreover, because youth spend a significant portion of each weekday in school, making sure that healthy beverage choices are available—and that less nutritious ones are not—is critical. Implementing school policies restricting access to sugar-sweetened beverages is an especially important public health strategy for addressing childhood obesity and improving students' nutritional health.

Action items to improve the overall school nutrition environment (beverages and foods) include

* Supporting strong state and district school nutrition standards for foods and beverages offered or sold outside of school meals, such as those recommended by the Institute of MedicineExternal Web Site Icon.
* .Reviewing district-level school wellness policies to ensure they include nutrition guidelines so that only healthy foods and beverages are available during each school day.
* Examining the actual foods and beverages that are available to students—including competitive foods and beverages sold in cafeterias, snack bars, school stores, and vending machines—and determining if they meet strong nutrition standards.
* Educating students about nutrition and offering only healthy food and beverage choices to ensure a consistent message on healthy eating.

Additional National Youth Physical Activity and Nutrition Study (NYPANS) Information [see inside please]

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CDC Features - Reducing Access to Sugar-sweetened Beverages Among Youth
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