Get the Facts About Sugary Drinks

Sugar is in more than just soda. A lot of sugar is added to powdered mixes, sports and energy drinks, vitamin drinks, sweetened coffee and tea, chocolate and other flavored milk, and sweetened fruit-flavored drinks.

Parents often try to switch out sugary foods for healthier options.

They would be doing more for their children's health if they also switched out sugary drinks for healthy drinks with no added sweeteners.

The two best choices:

• water
• white, unflavored milk

Sugary drinks can increase your risk of serious health problems, like:

• Cavities
• Type 2 diabetes 
• Unhealthy weight gain and obesity
• Heart disease and related conditions
  (like high blood pressure and high cholesterol)

U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend children younger than 2 have foods and drinks with no added sugar. 

Older children and adults should limit added sugar to less than 10 percent of the total calories they eat and drink every day.

An adult consuming 2,000 calories a day should limit daily sugar to 200 calories or 50 grams of sugar. This is the same as 12-½ teaspoons of sugar.

A child eating and drinking less than that should have even fewer teaspoons of added sugar.

You can drink 12-1/2 teaspoons of sugar very quickly. A 20-ounce bottle of soda can have 16 teaspoons of added sugar. A 16-ounce glass of a powdered orange drink has about 11 teaspoons. Hand a child a sports drink on the soccer field, and he’ll drink 9 teaspoons of added sugar in a few big gulps.

Just ONE sugary drink often has more sugar than you should have in ONE day.

That means even one sugary drink a day can be too much, for an adult or a child.

Play Every Day shares these recommendations for limiting added sugar in videos, posters and other materials.

Contact us if you would like free copies for your schools, preschools, child care facilities, clinics, businesses, or other locations.

Drinking even one sugary beverage a day may lead to unhealthy weight gain (obesity), type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and tooth decay.

• Cut back on buying sugary drinks and limit them to special occasions
• Look at Nutrition Facts labels to spot added sugar: If a sweetener by any name is in the first three ingredients, the drink is probably loaded with added sugars
• Choose water or low-fat milk instead of sugary drinks
• Pack a water bottle in your child's backpack or lunchbox
• Make water tasty, and fun by adding lemon, lime, or mint to your glass, or by using a fun straw, cup, or bottle. 

Turn that drink around and check the Nutrition Facts. The “Includes Added Sugars” line tells the truth. Pick drinks that say 0 grams of Added Sugars.

Also, check the serving size, because a can or bottle of a sugary drink may have more than one serving. Find more tips on how to find the added sugars here.

Choosing drinks without added sugars and serving water or plain milk to children when they are little can help them grow up healthy and strong.

Added sugars are sugars that are added during food processing, not sugars that occur naturally in foods like whole fruits or milk.

Sugar goes by many names. Common names found on the Nutrition Facts Ingredients list are: high- fructose corn syrup, sucrose, dextrose, fructose, maltose, malt syrup, or any mention of sugar, such as palm sugar or evaporated sweetener.

Sugary drinks and added sugar can add up to serious health problems such as cavities, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and unhealthy weight. Sugary drinks are the largest source of added sugar — even more than desserts and sweet snacks — for most Americans. That is because it is easy to gulp down drinks sweetened with a large amount of sugar

One small, kid-sized fruit drink can have up to 8 teaspoons of added sugar. That might not seem like much, but one drink every day for a week is about 1 cup of sugar. One drink every day for a year can give your child a lot of sugar — more than six, 4-pound bags of sugar.

The sugar in one 12-ounce can of soda every day would be the same as eating more than 30 pounds of sugar during the year.

Sugary drinks are beverages that contain added sugars or sweeteners. Common sugary drinks include soda, sports drinks, energy drinks, fruit or powdered drinks, vitamin-enhanced water drinks, toddler milks with added sweeteners, and sweetened tea and coffee drinks. Chocolate milk and some milk alternatives also contain added sugar. The additional sugar in these drinks adds calories, but little or no nutrients.

Yes, a small fruit drink can have the same amount of sugar as eight mini doughnuts. That’s more sugar than we’d want our children to eat. So why let them drink it? Just one of these fruit drinks has more sugar than a child should have in one day.

New national guidelines say that infants and children under 2 should have no sugary drinks or foods. Young children eat small amounts of food, so every bite matters. Starting healthy eating habits before age 2 supports brain development and growth. Healthy eating means offering many different types of foods rich in vitamins and minerals and waiting until after age 2 to offer sweet foods and drinks.

For everyone over age 2, guidelines say to limit foods and drinks with added sugars toless than 10% of calories each day. To meet the guideline for healthy nutrition, the amount of added sugars that young children eat and drink should be far less.

The general calorie levels for a very active 3-year-old girl and a somewhat active 6-year-old girl are similar. Both should limit added sugar to under 22 grams, or 5 ½ teaspoons, each day. Healthy nutrition includes whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean meats and dairy, and a small amount of healthy fats in amounts that provide nutrients for good health and calories to maintain a healthy weight. 

Meeting these guidelines takes up most of a person’s daily calorie needs. That leaves few calories for extras like added sugars and fats. Learn more about healthy eating.

It matters what we serve kids during the early years. The flavors and variety of foods given to young children can influence the type of foods they’ll choose and enjoy later in life. 

Research shows that serving unsweetened, unsalted foods and drinks more can reduce how much children prefer sweet and salty options as they grow up. Reducing added sugar also lowers their chances for developing serious health problems later, including type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Your kids are watching: Choose healthy drinks for you, and for them. Children want what their parents are eating and drinking. If a parent reaches for a soda or a sports drink, their child will likely want the same.

So, if a parent chooses a bottle of water instead of a bottle of a sweetened vitamin drink, their child will be more likely to want that healthy option, too.

This video features an Alaska family who chooses healthy drinks for their two young children.

Sugary drinks can increase chances of tooth decay, weight gain and obesity, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, even in young kids. Kids who regularly drink soda are seven times as likely to have tooth decay than kids who did not drink soda. Sugary drinks can contribute to weight gain and obesity because kids fill up on them rather than other, healthier foods. Flavored drink mixes, both powdered and liquid concentrate, can have just as much sugar as other sugary beverages, like soda. Turn the drink around and read the Nutrition Facts label. The “Includes Added Sugars” line will tell you how many grams of sugar are in one serving of the drink mix when water is added.