Choose Healthy Drinks
Tips to help you cut back on sugary drinks and make healthy choices
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Overview
Click on each tab below to find tips to help you Choose Healthy Drinks and Cut Back on Sugary Drinks.
The Play Every Day campaign acknowledges the County of Sonoma Department of Health Services for sharing content and images used on its Choose Healthy Drinks website. All information is based on guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics. Contact Play Every Day for more details.
Choose Healthy Drinks
Serve your children:
- Unsweetened tap water, bottled water, or sparkling water
- Unsweetened non-fat or low-fat (1%) milk
- Unsweetened hot tea or cold caffeine-free tea
You may also serve:
- 100% fruit juice, in limited amounts:
- Children ages 1 to 3, no more than 4 ounces (1/2 cup) per day
- Children ages 4 to 6, no more than 4-6 ounces (1/2-3/4 cup) per day
- Children ages 7 to 18, no more than 8 ounces (1 cup) per day
These limits are based on guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics. For detailed references, contact Play Every Day.
Make it fun!
When you serve healthy drinks:
- Try giving your child his/her own water bottle.
- Serve water or milk in a colorful, fun or favorite cup.
- Let your child sip water or milk from a silly straw.
For more on what to serve, see the tab "Drink water or low-fat milk."
Presentation makes a big difference. Some ideas:
- Add fresh mint or slices of lemon, lime, orange, or cucumbers to a pitcher of water.
- Freeze lemon juice, berries or mint leaves in ice cube trays. Keep them ready to add to a glass of water!
- Drop a couple of frozen berries in a glass of sparkling water.
- Make your own “soda” with a splash of 100% fruit juice and club soda or seltzer.
- Try filtering your water.
- Keep a pitcher of water in the refrigerator and serve it cold. You’d be surprised how much of a difference this can make.
Make it easier to drink water:
- Pack it wherever you go
- Carry a water bottle with you and refill it throughout the day
- Make sure your children have water bottles when they head to school or outside to play
Cut Back on Sugary Drinks
- Make it a rule not to have sugary drinks in your house
- Avoid the sugary drink aisle at the supermarket
- Don't introduce sugary drinks to your kids -- so if they don't have them, they won't want them
- Don’t allow yourself or your family to drink sugary drinks in the car
- Order water or low-fat milk when eating out
- If you or your children do drink a sugary beverage, choose a smaller size
- Limit sugary drinks to special occasions, or not at all
- Send kids to school with a refillable bottle of water or low-fat milk
- Be a good role model by making healthy drink choices
Help make the healthy choice the easier choice:
- Support your schools when they limit the sale of sugary drinks in vending machines, for fundraisers, or at sporting events
- Let other parents know that you and your child drink water, not sugary drinks
- During your child’s sporting events, don't offer sports drinks or other sugary drinks at half-time or after the games or practices.