Consumption of sugary drinks like sodas and other sweetened beverages by children and adolescents worldwide has increased dramatically, raising their short- and long-term risks for obesity and other diseases, according to researchers.
Between 1990 and 2018, children ages 3 to 19 increased their consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages by an average of 23% (0.68 servings per week) to 3.6 servings per week, with the largest increases in sub-Saharan Africa (2.17 servings per week), according to survey data from 185 countries analyzed by researchers at Tufts University in Boston.
The jump in sugary drink intake among youngsters was nearly twice as high as the rise in adults over the same period and corresponds to increased rates of obesity among young people, the researchers reported on Wednesday in The BMJ.
Sugar-sweetened drinks were defined as any beverage with added sugars and at least 50 calories per 8-ounce (237-ml) serving, not including 100% fruit and vegetable juices or sweetened milk.
By 2018, the average global intake was 3.6 servings per week, ranging from 1.3 in south Asia to 9.1 in Latin America and the Caribbean
In nearly one-third of the 185 countries included in the analysis, the average intake was seven or more servings per week.
The American Heart Association recommends that children 2 years and older consume no more than 8 ounces of sugary drinks per week.
The researchers acknowledged that the survey data yielded imperfect estimates of food intake. Still, they concluded, their study shows that given the large differences in intake of sugary beverages among children and adolescents in various parts of the world, efforts to achieve reductions will need to be targeted to specific populations.
